Extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) has been suggested to influence the cognitive capability but this should be dynamically evaluated in a longitudinal study. Previous training can affect performance, but the influence under magnetic field is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the effects of previous training and ELF-MF exposure on learning and memory using the Morris water maze (MWM). Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to MWM training, ELF-MF exposure (50 Hz, 100 μT), or ELF-MF exposure combined with MWM training for 90 days. Normal rats were used as controls. The MWM was used to test. The data show that the rats exposed to training and ELF-MF with training performed better on spatial acquisition when re-tested. However, during the probe trial the rats showed no change between the training phase and the test phase. Compared with the control group, the ELF-MF group showed no significant differences. These results confirm that previous training can improve the learning and memory capabilities regarding spatial acquisition in the MWM and this effect can last for at least 90 days. However, this improvement in learning and memory capabilities was not observed during the probe trial. Furthermore, ELF-MF exposure did not interfere with the improvement in learning and memory capabilities., Y. Li, C. Zhang, T. Song., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Předkládaná studie se věnuje specifikům dětské výpovědi. Mapuje možné zdroje její nespolehlivosti (nízká schopnost zapamatovat si a vybavit si události, vysoká sugestibilita, snadnost vzniku falešných vzpomínek, neporozumění pro procesy a interakce v okolí, možnost záměrného lhaní). Jsou uvedeny některé postupy, které mohou pomoci zkvalitnit, nebo naopak znehodnotit informace, podané dítětem. Schopnost dítěte porozumět své vlastní motivaci, prožívání a chování, stejně tak jako chování a prožívání jiných lidí je často zpochybňována. Ukazuje se však, že dětský úhel pohledu na události, které zažívá, a na sociální interakce, kterým je vystaveno, je obohacující. Přináší smysluplné informace, je jedinečný a přispívá jak k pochopení prožívání a chování dítěte a jeho aktuálních potíží, tak ke hlubšímu porozumění rodinným vztahům a jiným skutečnostem., The present study maps the possible sources of unreliability of child,s testimony (lower ability to remember and recall events, high suggestibility, easier formation of false memories, misunderstanding of the processes and interactions in surroundings, probability of deliberate lying) as well as its potential benefits in research and counselling practices. There are some procedures that can help improve or conversely depreciate information given by child. Child,s ability to understand their own motivation, experience and behaviour as well as behaviour and feelings of others are often questioned. But despite all mentioned risks, child,s testimony is very useful not only in judicial proceedings in which the child may be the only witness to the events but also in psychological research and counselling. It turns out that a child is more sensitive to some aspects of family life (conflicts) than an adult and gives even more accurate information than its parents. Child,s view of family life is important for understanding its behaviour and experience., Xenie Uholyeva., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The aim of this study was to inve stigate the effect of prenatal methamphetamine (MA) exposure and application of the same drug in adulthood on cognitive functions of adult female rats. Animals were prenatally exposed to MA (5 mg/kg) or saline (control group). The cognitive function was tested as ability of spatial learning in the Morris Water Maze (MWM). Each day of the experiment animals received an injection of MA (1 mg/kg) or saline. Our results demonstrated that prenatal MA exposure did not affect the latency to reach the hidden platform or the distance traveled during the Place Navigation Test; however, the speed of swimming was increased in prenatally MA-exposed rats compared to controls regardless of the treatment in adulthood. MA treatment in adulthood increased the latency and distance when compared to controls regardless of the prenatal exposure. Neither prenatal exposure, nor tr eatment in adulthood affected memory retrieval. As far as the estrous cycle is concerned, our results showed that prenatally MA-exposed females in proestrus/estrus swam faster than females in diestrus. This effect of estrous cycle was not apparent in control females. In conclusion, our results indicate that postnatal, but not prenatal exposure to MA affects learning of adult female rats., E. Macúchová, K. Nohejlová-Deykun, R. Šlamberová., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
a1_In the present study, the effect of the medial septal (MS) lesions on exploratory activity in the open field and the spatial and object recognition memory has been investigated. This experiment compares three types of MS lesions: electrolytic lesions that destroy cells and fibers of passage, neurotoxic -ibotenic acid lesions that spare fibers of passage but predominantly affect the septal noncholinergic neurons, and immunotoxin - 192 IgG -saporin infusions that only eliminate cholinergic neurons. The main results are: the MS electrolytic lesioned rats were impaired in habituat ing to the environment in the repeated spatial environment, but rats with immuno - or neurotoxic lesions of the MS did not differ from control ones; the MS electrolytic and ibotenic acid lesioned rats showed an increase in their exploratory activity to the objects and were impaired in habituating to the objects in the repeated spatial environment; rats with immunolesions of the MS did not differ from control rats; electrolytic lesions of the MS disrupt spatial recognition memory; rats with immuno - or neurotoxic lesions of the MS were normal in detecting spatial novelty; all of the MS - lesioned and control rats clearly reacted to the object novelty by exploring the new object more than familiar ones. Results observed across lesion techniques indicate that: (i) the deficits after nonselective damage of MS are limited to a subset of cognitive processes dependent on the hippocampus, (ii) MS is substantial for spatial, but not for object recognition memory - the object recognition memory can be supported outside the septohippocampal system; (iii) the selective loss of septohippocampal cholinergic or noncholinergic projections does not disrupt the function of the hippocampus to a sufficient extent to impair spatial recognition memory;, a2_(iv) there is dissociation between the two major components (cholinergic and noncholinergic) of the septohippocampal pathway in exploratory behavior assessed in the open field - the memory exhibited by decrements in exploration of repeated object presentations is affected by either electr olytic or ibotenic lesions, but not saporin., M. G. Dashniani, M. A. Burjanadze, T. L. Naneishvili, N. C. Chkhikvishvili, G. V. Beselia, L. B. Kruashvili, N. O. Pochkhidze, M. R. Chighladze., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The study offers a basic overview of the manuscripts of the ars memorativa treatises in late medieval Czech lands. On the basis of the surviving evidence it is possible to prove that during the 15th century this ancient art (however suspicious and cumbersome it may seem today) was known and practiced here. It coexisted with general (often primarily medical) set of advices on efficient studying some of which openly criticize the art of memory for being too impractical. Besides copies of Italian and West European art of memory models, there is a number of these treatises and shorter treatments of the art composed in the Czech lands. Each of them includes specific features and innovations not encountered elsewhere. The manuscript context of ars memorativa shows that it was not seen as a part of rhetoric theory intended for a restricted number of intellectuals but as a means of storing and recuperating important information actively used especially by students and preachers. and Lucie Doležalová.
During the early postnatal age environmental signals underlie the development of sensory systems. The visual system is considered as an appropriate system to evaluate role of sensory experience in postnatal development of sensory systems. This study was made to assess the effect of visual deprivation on strategy of arm selection in navigation of radial arm maze. Six-week-old light- (LR, control) and dark-reared (DR) rats were trained for correct choices and adjacent arms tasks. Our results showed that both the LR and DR animals equally selected correct arms. In the adjacent arms task, however, the control group significantly outperformed the DR animals. While the LR males and females displayed some differences in performing the tasks, no sex dependency was found in the performance of the DR group. These findings indicate that the lack of visual experience is likely to influence the strategy selection as well as sex differences. Thus the difference in the performance of LR and DR animals seems to be due to the male rather than female behavior., M. Salami., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Spatial navigation comprises a widely-studied complex of animal behaviors. Its study offers many methodological advantages over other approaches, enabling assessment of a variety of experimental questions and the possibility to compare the results across different species. Spatial navigation in laboratory animals is often considered a model of higher human cognitive functions including declarative memory. Almost fifteen years ago, a novel dry-arena task for rodents was designed in our laboratory, originally named the place avoidance task, and later a modification of this approach was established and called active place avoidance task. It employs a continuously rotating arena, upon which animals are trained to avoid a stable sector defined according to room-frame coordina tes. This review describes the development of the place avoidance tasks, evaluates the cognitive processes associated with performance and explores the application of place avoidance in the testing of spatial learning after neuropharmacological, lesion and other experimental manipulations., A. Stuchlík ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Since close relationship was shown between drug addiction and memory formation, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of interaction between prenatal methamphetamine (MA) exposure and MA treatment in adulthood on spatial and non-spatial memory and on the structure of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the hippocampus. Adult male rats prenatally exposed to MA (5 mg/kg) or saline were tested in adulthood. Non-spatial memory was examined in the Object Recognition Test (ORT) and spatial memory in the Object Location Test (OLT) and in the Memory Retention Test (MRT) conducted in the Morris Water Maze (MWM), respectively. Based on the type of the memory test animals were injected either acutely (ORT, OLT) or long-term (MWM) with MA (1 mg/kg). After each testing, animals were sacrificed and brains were removed. The hippocampus was then examined in Western Blot analysis for occurrence of different NMDA receptors’ subtypes. Our results demonstrated that prenatal MA exposure affects the development of the NMDA receptors in the hippocampus that might correspond with improvement of spatial memory tested in adulthood in the MWM. On the other hand, the effect of prenatal MA exposure on nonspatial memory examined in the ORT was the opposite. In addition, we showed that the effect of MA administration in adulthood on NMDA receptors is influenced by prenatal MA exposure, which seems to correlate with the spatial memory examined in the OLT., R. Šlamberová, M. Vrajová, B. Schutová, M. Mertlová, E. Macúchová, K. Nohejlová, L. Hrubá, J. Puskarčíková, V. bubeníková-Valešová, A. Yamamotová., and Obsahuje bibliografii