Effects of vasopressin on shuttle-box passive avoidance behavior in rats / 第三军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Arginine-8-vasopressin (AVP) could promote the acquisition of shuttle-box passive avoidance behavior and delay the extinction of the behavior when injected into the hippocampus of rats.Intrahippocampal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) prevented AVP from enhancing memory.The authors had also observed that AVP could accelerate the degradation of cate-cholamine in the hippocampus when the contents of monoamine transmitters and their metabolites were analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection. These facts suggest that vasopressin promotes the shuttle-box passive avoidance behavior in rats,strcnthens long-term memory as well as short-term memory,and exerts its effect on memory through its enhancing the degradation of norepinephrine and/or dopamine in the hippocampus.