Basal forebrain lesions in monkeys disrupt attention but not learning and memory [published erratum appears in J Neurosci 1995 Mar;15(3): following table of contents]

ML Voytko, DS Olton, RT Richardson, LK Gorman, JR Tobin et al.

Journal of Neuroscience • 1994

DOI PMC

Visual Discrimination Tasks

behavioralcynomolgus monkeys

Objective: To evaluate the effects of basal forebrain cholinergic system (BFCS) lesions on cognitive processes in monkeys, specifically examining different mnemonic and attentional abilities through a series of cognitive tasks

Materials & Equipment Checklist

2 items

Gather these items before starting the experiment. Check off items as you prepare.

Materials2

Ibotenic acid

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Scopolamine

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Protocol Steps

Surgical lesion creation

Ibotenic acid injections administered to the medial septum, nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca, and nucleus basalis of Meynert in cynomolgus monkeys

Note: Lesions were created in basal forebrain cholinergic system regions

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“ibotenic acid injections in the medial septum, nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca, and nucleus basalis of Meynert in cynomolgus monkeys”

Cognitive task battery administration

Systematic investigation of behavioral effects using a large series of cognitive tasks examining different mnemonic and attentional abilities

Note: Tasks included delayed nonmatching-to-sample, delayed response, simple visual discriminations, concurrent visual discriminations, spatial discriminations, and discrimination reversals

View evidence from paper

“using a large series of cognitive tasks that examined different mnemonic and attentional abilities”

Simple visual discrimination task

Assessment of learning and discrimination abilities using simple visual discrimination

Note: Lesions did not impair accuracy in this task

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“simple or concurrent visual discriminations”

Concurrent visual discrimination task

Assessment of learning and discrimination abilities using concurrent visual discrimination

Note: Lesions did not impair accuracy in this task

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“simple or concurrent visual discriminations”

Discrimination reversal task

Assessment of cognitive flexibility through discrimination reversals

Note: Lesions did not impair accuracy in discrimination reversals

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“discrimination reversals”

Scopolamine sensitivity testing

Evaluation of central cholinergic system compromise by testing sensitivity to cholinergic antagonist injections in delayed nonmatching-to-sample task

Note: BFCS lesioned monkeys showed increased sensitivity to scopolamine

View evidence from paper

“BFCS lesions increased sensitivity to injections of the cholinergic antagonist scopolamine in a delayed nonmatching-to-sample task”