The effects of blood pressure changes on cognitive function in rats

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24530917
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Experimental psychology
• Research Institution: Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University
• Principal Investigator: SATO Toshihiko 東北文化学園大学, 健康社会システム研究科, 准教授 (20322612)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: SHR / WKY / ラット / 遅延照合課題 / オペラント条件づけ / 記憶 / 血圧 / 血管拡張薬

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aimed to study the effect of blood pressure reduction on cognitive function in rats. In this research, we used spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) with higher blood pressure levels based on their genetic background. We compared these animals to normal controls of the Wistar-Kyoto strain (WKY). A retention gradient between 0 and 20 seconds was determined on the basis of the number of correct responses in a working memory task (a delayed-matching-to-place task, DMTP). Their performance was compared. The number of correct responses decreased after injection of the vasodilator hydralazine (0.3 and 0.6 mg/kg) compared to the injection of a vehicle, saline. The difference between these dosages was relatively small and difference in performance in this DMTP task was not evident between SHR and WKY rats. There were some strain differences in the response latency, as an index of response speed, in some simpler learning task (e.g., autoshaping).

Free Research Field

実験心理学