Learning and survival memory undergoing a permanent bilateral carotid ligation in rats

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of cerebral hypoxia-ischemia on memory and learning survival of rats submitted to permanent bilateral carotid ligation (PBCL). Twenty-four survivors of PBCL were evaluated after 30 days with regard to memory and learning using a water survival maze. Twenty-three healthy rats were used as control group. The results were expressed by their means and standard error of the mean (SEM). p<0.05 was used for rejecting the null hypothesis. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee for animal investigation. The mortality rate for the surgery was 44.4%. The latency time to find the survival platform was higher in rats that underwent PBCL (Normal: 10.24 ± 1.85s - 25.30 ± 4.69s - Mann - Whitney p=0.0388). Additionally, the type of swimming and the spatial stability of the studied rats on the survival platform were compromised in these animals. The permanent bilateral carotid ligation induces change in the learning and survival memory.