Effects of Swimming Exercise on Learning and Memory in the Kainate-Lesion Model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Published: November 1, 2016 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2016/22100.8835
Vasavi Rakesh Gorantla, Sudhakar Pemminati, Vernon Bond, Dewey G Meyers, Richard Mark Millis
1. Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Neuroscience, AUA College of Medicine and Manipal University,
Antigua and Department of Anatomy, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal, India.
2. Associate Professor, Department of Medical Pharmacology, AUA College of Medicine, Antigua.
3. Professor, Department of Recreation, Human Performance & Leisure Studies and Exercise Science & Human Nutrition Laboratory,
Howard University Cancer Centre, Washington, DC 20060, United States of America.
4. Professor, Department of Behavioural Science and Neuroscience, AUA College of Medicine, Antigua.
5. Professor, Department of Medical Physiology, AUA College of Medicine, Antigua.
Correspondence
Dr. Richard Mark Millis,
Professor, Department of Medical Physiology, American University of Antigua College of Medicine, Antigua.
St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.
E-mail: rmillis@auamed.net
Introduction: An aerobic exercise (Ex) augments neurogenesis and may ameliorate learning and memory deficits in the rat Kainic Acid (KA) model of temporal lobe epilepsy in the short-term but whether it reverses learning and memory deficits after a substantial period of delay remains unclear.
Aim: This study tests the hypothesis that aerobic Ex attenuates the learning and memory deficits associated with kainate seizures in the long-term.
Materials and Methods: A total of 60 rats were subjected to chemical lesioning using KA and to an Ex intervention consisting of a 30 days period of daily swimming for 15 min, immediately after KA lesioning (immediate exposure) or after a 60 days period of normal activity (delayed exposure). We evaluated spatial learning on a T-maze test, expressed as percentage of correct responses. We evaluated memory on a passive-avoidance test, expressed as time spent in a compartment in which the rats were previously exposed to an aversive stimulus.
Results: Ex increases the percentage of correct responses, percentage bias, and number of alternations, associated with the T-maze testing for the normal control, sham-operated control and kainate-lesioned animals after both immediate and delayed exposures to Ex. Ex decreased the time exposed to the aversive stimulus in the smaller compartment of the two-compartment passive-avoidance test, also for the normal control, sham-operated control and kainate-lesioned animals after both immediate and delayed exposures to Ex.
Conclusion: These finding suggest that, after temporal lobe epileptic seizures in rats, swimming exercise may attenuate the learning and memory deficits, even if the exercise treatment is delayed.
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