Behavioral effects of deep brain stimulation of different areas of the Papez circuit on memory- and anxiety-related functions

Hescham S 1 , Jahanshahi A 2 , Meriaux C 2 , Lim LW 3 , Blokland A 4 , Temel Y 5

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; European Graduate School of Neuroscience (Euron), The Netherlands. Electronic address: [email protected]
  • 2 Department of Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; European Graduate School of Neuroscience (Euron), The Netherlands
  • 3 Department of Biological Sciences, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia; Department of Physiology, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  • 4 Departments of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; European Graduate School of Neuroscience (Euron), The Netherlands
  • 5 Department of Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Departments of Neurosurgery, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; European Graduate School of Neuroscience (Euron), The Netherlands. Electronic address: [email protected]
Behav Brain Res, 2015 Oct 1;292:353-60.
PMID: 26119240 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.06.032

Abstract

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has gained interest as a potential therapy for advanced treatment-resistant dementia. However, possible targets for DBS and the optimal stimulation parameters are not yet clear. Here, we compared the effects of DBS of the CA1 sub-region of the hippocampus, mammillothalamic tract, anterior thalamic nucleus, and entorhinal cortex in an experimental rat model of dementia. Rats with scopolamine-induced amnesia were assessed in the object location task with different DBS parameters. Moreover, anxiety-related side effects were evaluated in the elevated zero maze and open field. After sacrifice, we applied c-Fos immunohistochemistry to assess which memory-related regions were affected by DBS. When comparing all structures, DBS of the entorhinal cortex and CA1 sub-region was able to restore memory loss when a specific set of stimulation parameters was used. No anxiety-related side effects were found following DBS. The beneficial behavioral performance of CA1 DBS rats was accompanied with an activation of cells in the anterior cingulate gyrus. Therefore, we conclude that acute CA1 DBS restores memory loss possibly through improved attentional and cognitive processes in the limbic cortex.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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