Enhanced Context-Dependent Repeated Learning in Male Offspring After Prenatal Stress Alone or in Conjunction with Lead Exposure

DEBORAH A CORY-­SLECHTA; MIRIAM B VIRGOLINI; SUE LIU; DOUGLAS WESTON

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2012 vol. 33 p. 1188 - 1188

oth lead (Pb) exposure and prenatal stress (PS) can produce cognitive deficits,and in a prior study we demonstrated enhanced cognitive deficits in repeated learning offemale rats exposed to both of these developmental insults (Cory-Slechta et al., 2010).However, PS can also lead to improved cognitive outcomes that are both gender-andcontext-dependent. Thus, the current study examined whether Pb ± PS likewise producedrepeated learning deficits in males, either after maternal or lifetime Pb exposure.Repeated learning was evaluated using a multiple schedule of repeated learning andperformance that required learning 3-response sequences in male offspring that had beensubjected to either maternal Pb (0 or 150 ppm) or lifetime Pb exposure (0 or 50 ppm)beginning two mos prior to dam breeding, to prenatal immobilization restraint stress(gestational days 16-17), or to both Pb and PS. Blood Pb, corticosterone, hippocampalglucocor