Spatial Discrimination Task
Objective: Evaluate the effects of basal forebrain cholinergic system lesions on spatial discrimination abilities in monkeys
Protocol Steps
Surgical lesioning procedure
Ibotenic acid injections administered to medial septum, nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca, and nucleus basalis of Meynert in cynomolgus monkeys
Note: This is a surgical intervention to create basal forebrain cholinergic system lesions
View evidence from paper
“ibotenic acid injections in the medial septum, nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca, and nucleus basalis of Meynert in cynomolgus monkeys”
Spatial discrimination task administration
Monkeys were tested on spatial discrimination tasks as part of a large series of cognitive tasks examining different mnemonic and attentional abilities
Note: Task was administered to assess spatial discrimination abilities following lesioning
View evidence from paper
“a large series of cognitive tasks that examined different mnemonic and attentional abilities”
Scopolamine sensitivity assessment
Scopolamine injections administered in delayed nonmatching-to-sample task to assess central cholinergic system compromise
Note: Increased sensitivity to scopolamine indicated compromised central cholinergic system
View evidence from paper
“BFCS lesions increased sensitivity to injections of the cholinergic antagonist scopolamine in a delayed nonmatching-to-sample task”