A single early life seizure impairs short-term memory but does not alter spatial learning recognition memory or anxiety

摘要

The impact of a single seizure on cognition remains controversial. We hypothesized that a single early life seizure (sELS) on rat post-natal day (P) 7 would alter only hippocampal-dependent learning and memory in mature (P60) rats. The Morris Water Maze (MWM), Novel Object and Novel Place Recognition (NOR/NPR) tasks, and Contextual Fear Conditioning (CFC) were used to assess learning and memory associated with hippocampal/prefrontal cortex, perirhinal/hippocampal cortex, and amygdala function, respectively. The Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) and Open Field Test (OFT) were used to assess anxiety associated with the septum. We report that sELS impaired hippocampal-dependent short-term memory but not spatial learning or recall. sELS did not disrupt performance in the NOR/NPR. CFC performance suggested intact amydgala function. sELS did not change anxiety levels as measured by the EPM or OFT. Our data suggests that the long-term cognitive impacts of sELS are largely limited to the hippocampus/prefrontal cortex.