Abstract
The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is an established animal model of ADHD. It has been suggested that ADHD symptoms arise from deficits in executive functions such as working memory, attentional control and decision making. Both ADHD patients and SHRs show deficits in spatial working memory. However, the data on spatial working memory deficits in SHRs are not consistent. It has been suggested that the reported cognitive deficits of SHRs may be related to the SHRs’ locomotor activity. We have used a holeboard (COGITAT) to study both cognition and activity in order to evaluate the influence of the activity on the cognitive performance of SHRs. In comparison to Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, SHRs did not have any impairment in spatial working memory and reference memory. When the rats’ locomotor activity was taken into account, the SHRs’ working memory and reference memory were significantly better than in WKY rats. The locomotor activity appears to be a confounding factor in spatial memory tasks and should therefore be controlled for in future studies. In the SHR model of ADHD, we were unable to demonstrate an impairment of working memory which has been reported in patients with ADHD.
Highlights
Several animal models of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been proposed [1,2]
When using the last 10 trials analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not show any difference between the two groups in reference memory error or spatial working memory error
ANCOVA revealed a significant influence of the route covered on both the spatial working memory error (p=0.001) and the spatial reference memory error (p=0.001)
Summary
Several animal models of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been proposed [1,2]. In comparison to WKY rats, SHRs show various behavioural alterations characteristic of ADHD, including hyperactivity, impulsivity, poor sustained attention and impaired ability to withhold responses [3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Deficits in learning and memory have been reported in patients with ADHD [18]. It has been suggested that ADHD symptoms arise from deficits in executive functions such as working memory, attentional control and decision making [19]. Patients with ADHD have been reported to show deficits in verbal and spatial working memory [20,21]. If executive dysfunctioning is important in ADHD, one might expect to find deficits of working memory in SHRs
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