The Effects of Lactational and Gestational Exposure to 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin or Coplanar PCBs on Spatial Learning and Memory

One way in which rats are able to solve the RAM without employing memory systems is by using a response strategy. The most obvious response strategy that would yield better performance on the RAM is adjacent arm selection. A final study was conducted, in which TCDD-exposed animals were tested on the 8-arm RAM with all of the arms baited or on the 12-arm RAM with only 8 of the 12 arms baited. It was hypothesized that if TCDD-exposed rats had better memory, they should show improvements relative to controls on both tasks. The final study again replicated the reduction in errors on the 8-arm RAM in the TCDD-exposed animals. However, the TCDD-exposed rats did not differ from the controls on the 12-arm RAM. These results suggested that the TCDD-exposed rats were using a response strategy to solve the 8-arm RAM task, but surprisingly there was no indication of increased adjacent arm patterning in these animals. It was concluded that the TCDD-exposed animals probably do not have enhanced spatial memory. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Neuroscience

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Seo, Byung-Woun

Contributors dc:contributor

• Schantz, Susan L.

• Psychology, Psychobiology

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9944994

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82539