Short-term, high-dose administration of corticosterone by injection facilitates trace eyeblink conditioning in young male rats.

ABSTRACT: Glucocorticoids released as part of the physiological response to stress are known to affect cognitive function, presumably via effects on the hippocampus. Trace classical eyeblink conditioning is an associative learning task which depends on the hippocampus and has been used to examine the development of learning processes in young mammals. Previously, we demonstrated deficits in trace eyeblink conditioning associated with postnatal administration of the glucocorticoid corticosterone by creating a sustained elevation with methods such as subcutaneous timed-release pellets and osmotic mini-pumps which were active over several days. In the present study, we examined the effects of an oscillating pattern of corticosterone elevation on subsequent trace eyeblink conditioning. Twice daily corti

SUBMITTER: Wentworth-Eidsaune CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4666787 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature