Spatial memory and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists APV and MK-801: memory impairments depend on familiarity with the environment, drug dose, and training duration.

Rats given N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists were tested in the radial maze in spatial working memory (WM) and reference memory (RM) tasks. Female rats given (+)-10,11-dihydro-5-methyl-5H-dibenzo [a,d] cycloheptene-5,10 imine (MK-801; 0.0625 mg/kg ip) before daily testing in an 8-arm WM task were impaired even after 70 days. Control rats learned quickly, were assigned to a group given MK-801 or saline, and were trained to avoid 4 of the 8 arms. MK-801 impaired this reversal learning but did not affect WM performance. Male rats were trained on an 8-arm WM task for 19 days and then given intracranial aminophosphonovaleric acid (APV; 33 mM), which impaired both WM and motor behavior. Male rats were trained for 65 days to enter 4 of 8 arms and then given intracranial APV (20 or 30 mM). WM and RM were normal in the familiar environment but were both impaired in an unfamiliar environment. Results suggest that the mnemonic effects of NMDA antagonists depend on environmental familiarity, dose, and training duration.