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Dorsal hippocampal lesions reduce nicotine-induced hyperactivity in roman low-but not in roman highavoidance rats
95 INTELLIGENCE IN PATIENTS WITH FOCAL CORTICAL LESIONS FISCHER, P.*, VALENCAK, E.** AND GLONING, K.* *Neurological I n s t i t u t e of Vienna, Austria **Neurosurgical Department of Wagner-Jauregg Hospital Linz, Austria Only a few neuropsychological studies e x i s t which t r y to l o c a l i z e i n t e l l i g e n c e or general i n t e l l i g e n c e , r e s p e c t i v e l y . Some of these studies l o c a l i z e i n t e l l i g e n c e into the l e f t and r i g h t p a r i e t o - o c c i p i t a l between a c t i v i t i e s
temporo-parietal
cortex. Studies with rCBF, PET and cEEG also have found out c o r r e l a t i o n s
in these c o r t i c a l areas and scores on i n t e l l i g e n c e tasks, e s p e c i a l l y on WAIS-
scores. The present study t r i e s to i n v e s t i g a t e i n t e l l i g e n c e in an homogenous sample of 131 post meningioma-operated p a t i e n t s . These patients had suffered from focal c o r t i c a l atrophy caused by the pressure of the slowly growing e x t r a c e r e b r a l - i n t r a c r a n i a l tumour of the meninx. The i n t e l l i g e n c e tasks used in t h i s study are four subtests of the WAIS which form the WIP. The WIP is a common short-form of the WAIS in german speaking neuropsychology which t r i e s to measure global i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t i e s , only. The paper wants to answer questions about reduction of i n t e l l i g e n c e a f t e r focal c o r t i c a l
lesions,
about l o c a l i z a t i o n of reduction of i n t e l l i g e n c e and about i n t e r v e n i n g variables which influence the reduction of i n t e l l i g e n c e . Variables investigated were age, schooling time, sex and handedness of the p a t i e n t s , time i n t e r v a l between operation ofthe tumour and t e s t i n g procedure, size and s i t e of the l e s i o n s , neurosurgical complications and post-operative epilepsy. The r i g h t p a r i t o - o c c i p i t a l
c o r t i c a l area seems to be important f o r global i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t i e s
o b j e c t i f i e d with the WIP. But no h i n t f o r l o c a l i z a t i o n of g - i n t e l l i g e n c e is found. The importance of education and dynamics of the lesions f o r r e s t o r a t i o n of i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t i e s
is stressed.
DORSAL HIPPOCAMPAL LESIONS REDUCE NICOTINE-INDUCED HYPERACTIVITY IN ROMANLOW-BUT NOT IN ROMANHIGHAVOIDANCE RATS FITZGERALD, R.E.*, DRISCOLL, P.** AND BATTIG, K.* * I n s t i t u t e of Behavioural Sciences, Federal I n s t i t u t e of Technology, 8092 ZUrich, Switzerland * * U n i v e r s i t y of Lausanne, I n s t i t u t e of Anatomy, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland RHA/Verh and RLA/Verh rats have been s e l e c t i v e l y bred f o r rapid- vs non-learning of shuttlebox avoidance. A number of i n t e r e s t i n g differences between the s t r a i n s have been described: RHA/Verh have higher l e v e l s of spontaneous a c t i v i t y ,
are less s e n s i t i v e to footshock, perform less well in complex
maze tasks and in a DRL-20 operant schedule (2). The two s t r a i n s also respond d i f f e r e n t l y r i e t y of drugs i n c l u d i n g n i c o t i n e ( I ) .
to a va-
Differences in s h u t t l e - b o x performance between these two
s t r a i n s are related to hippocampal mossy f i b e r terminal density (3). The present study investigated whether the d i f f e r e n t i a l
response of RHA/Verh and RLA/Verh rats to n i c o t i n e involves the hippocam-
pus. A t o t a l of 32 RHA/Verh and 32 RLA/Verh r a t s , a l l 4 months old
males, were used. Half the rats
96 of each s t r a i n were given b i l a t e r a l radiofrequency lesions of the dorsal hippocampus, the other h a l f were sham operated. Locomotor a c t i v i t y was measured in 4.5 minute tests in an automated radial tunnel maze. A f t e r one preop and one 2-week-postop a c t i v i t y
t e s t , a l l rats were tested on f i v e conse-
c u t i v e days 30 minutes a f t e r subcutaneous i n j e c t i o n of 0.2 mg n i c o t i n e base/kg or saline ( s t r a i n x lesion x drug, each group n=8). Both hippocampal lesions and n i c o t i n e treatment produced h y p e r a c t i v i t y in RHA/Verh and RLA/Verh r a t s . RHA/Verh rats which were both lesioned and n i c o t i n e - t r e a t e d were more a c t i v e han those with e i t h e r l e s i o n - or n i c o t i n e - t r e a t m e n t alone. RLA/Verh rats which were both lesioned and n i c o t i n e - t r e a t e d were less a c t i v e than those which received e i t h e r treatment alone. The r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e that the role of dorsal hippocampus in the behavioural e f f e c t s of n i c o t i n e is s t r a i n dependent. REFERENCES I . B ~ t t i g , K. Act. Nerv. Sup. (Praha), 22 (1974) 1980. 2. D r i s c o l l , P. In: Genetics of the Brain, I . L i e b l i c h (Ed.). E l s e v i e r , Amsterdam, 1982, pp. 95. 3. Schwegler, H., Lipp, H.-P., Behav. Brain Res., 7 (1981) I .
PREFERENTIALLOOKINGACUITY IN HUMAN INFANTS: EFFECTS OF REDUCING THE NUMBER OF TRIALS FRENKEL, H., MOHN, G. AND VAN HOF-VAN DUIN, J. Dept. of Physiology I , Erasmus U n i v e r s i t e i t Rotterdam, P.O.Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands The p r e f e r e n t i a l
looking technique has been used e x t e n s i v e l y in several l a b o r a t o r i e s to assess
visual a c u i t y f o r g r a t i n g patterns in human i n f a n t s . The large number of g r a t i n g presentations needed to obtain a s t a t i s t i c a l l y
r e l i a b l e a c u i t y estimate with t h i s method, has so f a r prevented i t s
r o u t i n e use under the t y p i c a l time c o n s t r a i n t s of c l i n i c a l the e f f e c t of reducing the number of t r i a l s
c o n d i t i o n s . The present report examined
presented in a two-up-one-downstaircase procedure ( I )
on the a c u i t y estimates obtained in normal i n f a n t s during the f i r s t
year of l i f e .
In 43 normal f u l l t e r m i n f a n t s , aged 4 I / 7 to 33 5/7 weeks, t e s t i n g with the staircase procedure was continued u n t i l at l e a s t 11 "reversals" in the staircase had been obtained. This required between 34 and 71 t r i a l s mean of the t r i a l s
(mean: 50), and took 15-30 minutes. Acuity estimates based on the geometric
c o n s t i t u t i n g I , 3, 5, 7, 9 or 11 reversals were then calculated and compared with
each other. Acuity estimates based on only the f i r s t
reversal (or the observer's f i r s t
i n c o r r e c t response)
correlated poorly with the most r e l i a b l e estimate based on 11 r e v e r s a l s . Estimates on the basis of 3 or more reversals however, were h i g h l y correlated with the 11 reversal values. V a r i a b i l i t y
(SEM) of
i n d i v i d u a l a c u i t y values increased by less than 0.1 octave when reducing the number of reversals from 11 to 3.
temporo-parietal
cortex. Studies with rCBF, PET and cEEG also have found out c o r r e l a t i o n s
in these c o r t i c a l areas and scores on i n t e l l i g e n c e tasks, e s p e c i a l l y on WAIS-
scores. The present study t r i e s to i n v e s t i g a t e i n t e l l i g e n c e in an homogenous sample of 131 post meningioma-operated p a t i e n t s . These patients had suffered from focal c o r t i c a l atrophy caused by the pressure of the slowly growing e x t r a c e r e b r a l - i n t r a c r a n i a l tumour of the meninx. The i n t e l l i g e n c e tasks used in t h i s study are four subtests of the WAIS which form the WIP. The WIP is a common short-form of the WAIS in german speaking neuropsychology which t r i e s to measure global i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t i e s , only. The paper wants to answer questions about reduction of i n t e l l i g e n c e a f t e r focal c o r t i c a l
lesions,
about l o c a l i z a t i o n of reduction of i n t e l l i g e n c e and about i n t e r v e n i n g variables which influence the reduction of i n t e l l i g e n c e . Variables investigated were age, schooling time, sex and handedness of the p a t i e n t s , time i n t e r v a l between operation ofthe tumour and t e s t i n g procedure, size and s i t e of the l e s i o n s , neurosurgical complications and post-operative epilepsy. The r i g h t p a r i t o - o c c i p i t a l
c o r t i c a l area seems to be important f o r global i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t i e s
o b j e c t i f i e d with the WIP. But no h i n t f o r l o c a l i z a t i o n of g - i n t e l l i g e n c e is found. The importance of education and dynamics of the lesions f o r r e s t o r a t i o n of i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t i e s
is stressed.
DORSAL HIPPOCAMPAL LESIONS REDUCE NICOTINE-INDUCED HYPERACTIVITY IN ROMANLOW-BUT NOT IN ROMANHIGHAVOIDANCE RATS FITZGERALD, R.E.*, DRISCOLL, P.** AND BATTIG, K.* * I n s t i t u t e of Behavioural Sciences, Federal I n s t i t u t e of Technology, 8092 ZUrich, Switzerland * * U n i v e r s i t y of Lausanne, I n s t i t u t e of Anatomy, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland RHA/Verh and RLA/Verh rats have been s e l e c t i v e l y bred f o r rapid- vs non-learning of shuttlebox avoidance. A number of i n t e r e s t i n g differences between the s t r a i n s have been described: RHA/Verh have higher l e v e l s of spontaneous a c t i v i t y ,
are less s e n s i t i v e to footshock, perform less well in complex
maze tasks and in a DRL-20 operant schedule (2). The two s t r a i n s also respond d i f f e r e n t l y r i e t y of drugs i n c l u d i n g n i c o t i n e ( I ) .
to a va-
Differences in s h u t t l e - b o x performance between these two
s t r a i n s are related to hippocampal mossy f i b e r terminal density (3). The present study investigated whether the d i f f e r e n t i a l
response of RHA/Verh and RLA/Verh rats to n i c o t i n e involves the hippocam-
pus. A t o t a l of 32 RHA/Verh and 32 RLA/Verh r a t s , a l l 4 months old
males, were used. Half the rats
96 of each s t r a i n were given b i l a t e r a l radiofrequency lesions of the dorsal hippocampus, the other h a l f were sham operated. Locomotor a c t i v i t y was measured in 4.5 minute tests in an automated radial tunnel maze. A f t e r one preop and one 2-week-postop a c t i v i t y
t e s t , a l l rats were tested on f i v e conse-
c u t i v e days 30 minutes a f t e r subcutaneous i n j e c t i o n of 0.2 mg n i c o t i n e base/kg or saline ( s t r a i n x lesion x drug, each group n=8). Both hippocampal lesions and n i c o t i n e treatment produced h y p e r a c t i v i t y in RHA/Verh and RLA/Verh r a t s . RHA/Verh rats which were both lesioned and n i c o t i n e - t r e a t e d were more a c t i v e han those with e i t h e r l e s i o n - or n i c o t i n e - t r e a t m e n t alone. RLA/Verh rats which were both lesioned and n i c o t i n e - t r e a t e d were less a c t i v e than those which received e i t h e r treatment alone. The r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e that the role of dorsal hippocampus in the behavioural e f f e c t s of n i c o t i n e is s t r a i n dependent. REFERENCES I . B ~ t t i g , K. Act. Nerv. Sup. (Praha), 22 (1974) 1980. 2. D r i s c o l l , P. In: Genetics of the Brain, I . L i e b l i c h (Ed.). E l s e v i e r , Amsterdam, 1982, pp. 95. 3. Schwegler, H., Lipp, H.-P., Behav. Brain Res., 7 (1981) I .
PREFERENTIALLOOKINGACUITY IN HUMAN INFANTS: EFFECTS OF REDUCING THE NUMBER OF TRIALS FRENKEL, H., MOHN, G. AND VAN HOF-VAN DUIN, J. Dept. of Physiology I , Erasmus U n i v e r s i t e i t Rotterdam, P.O.Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands The p r e f e r e n t i a l
looking technique has been used e x t e n s i v e l y in several l a b o r a t o r i e s to assess
visual a c u i t y f o r g r a t i n g patterns in human i n f a n t s . The large number of g r a t i n g presentations needed to obtain a s t a t i s t i c a l l y
r e l i a b l e a c u i t y estimate with t h i s method, has so f a r prevented i t s
r o u t i n e use under the t y p i c a l time c o n s t r a i n t s of c l i n i c a l the e f f e c t of reducing the number of t r i a l s
c o n d i t i o n s . The present report examined
presented in a two-up-one-downstaircase procedure ( I )
on the a c u i t y estimates obtained in normal i n f a n t s during the f i r s t
year of l i f e .
In 43 normal f u l l t e r m i n f a n t s , aged 4 I / 7 to 33 5/7 weeks, t e s t i n g with the staircase procedure was continued u n t i l at l e a s t 11 "reversals" in the staircase had been obtained. This required between 34 and 71 t r i a l s mean of the t r i a l s
(mean: 50), and took 15-30 minutes. Acuity estimates based on the geometric
c o n s t i t u t i n g I , 3, 5, 7, 9 or 11 reversals were then calculated and compared with
each other. Acuity estimates based on only the f i r s t
reversal (or the observer's f i r s t
i n c o r r e c t response)
correlated poorly with the most r e l i a b l e estimate based on 11 r e v e r s a l s . Estimates on the basis of 3 or more reversals however, were h i g h l y correlated with the 11 reversal values. V a r i a b i l i t y
(SEM) of
i n d i v i d u a l a c u i t y values increased by less than 0.1 octave when reducing the number of reversals from 11 to 3.