Striatal lesions interfere with acquisition of a complex maze task in rats.

The 14-unit T-maze has proven to be a valuable tool for investigating age-associated memory impairment (AAMI). While another task widely used to evaluate AAMI, the water maze, is primarily used to evaluate allocentric hippocampal-dependent spatial memory, the 14-unit T-maze can assess egocentric procedural memory. Although several brain structures, e.g. hippocampus, parietal cortex, have been implicated in acquisition and retention performance in the 14-unit T-maze, there has been no evaluation of the involvement of the striatum, a brain region implicated in procedural learning and memory. The current study revealed that excitotoxic lesions of the medial or lateral striatum significantly impaired acquisition, as measured by errors and latency, on this task without disruption of motor function. These results indicate that the 14-unit T-maze most likely is requires a large egocentric procedural learning component, and previously observed AAMI may involve age-related dysfunction of the striatum.

The European vibration directive.

The European Union adopted a Directive in 2002 on minimum requirements for the health and safety of workers exposed to vibration. This is known as the Physical Agents (Vibration) Directive. It builds on existing general employers' duties to manage risks to health and safety, and introduces exposure action and limit values for both hand-arm vibration and whole-body vibration, setting minimum standards for the control of vibration risks across Europe. New Regulations on Vibration at Work will be introduced in Great Britain on 6 July 2005 to implement the Directive. These Regulations should serve to strengthen the continuing work of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to reduce exposures to hand-arm vibration in British industry. Implementation of the Directive for whole-body vibration presents a different challenge and the HSE is currently preparing appropriate guidance to accompany the Regulations. This will form part of an holistic approach to back pain in professional drivers, setting vibration in context with other risk factors, particularly postural concerns and manual handling operations.