1996 Volume 72 Issue 4 Pages 67-72
Effects of acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors (a- and bFGFs, respectively) on spatial learning performance of fimbria-fornix (FF)-lesioned rats were investigated in Y-maze and water maze tests. Transection of FF produced severe spatial memory deficits revealed by both tests. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of aFGF (100-400ng/rat) and bFGF (100-400ng/rat) 30min before the daily session significantly improved the spatial learning impairments induced by FF-lesion in both types of spatial learning tasks. In contrast, i.c.v. injection of nerve growth factor (NGF, 100-400 ng/rat) did not ameliorate the spatial learning performance in FF-lesioned rats. This is the first report providing direct evidence that both aFGF and bFGF improve the spatial learning impaired by loss of septo-hippocampal cholinergic afferents.
