Experience-dependent facilitating effect of corticosterone on spatial memory formation in the water maze
Open accessAbstract
Stress-related adrenal steroid hormones modulate brain and cognitive function. Electrophysiological studies, including primed burst potentiation and long-term potentiation, have indicated concentration-dependent inverted U-shape effects of corticosterone in hippocampal function and plasticity. Here, we explored the role of corticosterone in the consolidation and long-term retrieval of spatial learning in the Morris water maze task in rats. We postulated that corticosterone actions might be experience-dependent with regard to stimulus intensity, such as differential water temperatures. Indeed, rats trained at 19 degrees C showed a quicker rate of acquisition and better long-term retention than rats trained at 25 degrees C water. In addition, post-training corticosterone levels, on the first training day, were significantly higher in rats in the 19 degrees C group than in the 25 degrees C group. Performance of rats trained at 25 degrees C, but not at 19 degrees C, water was improved by injecting them i.p. with corticosterone immediately after each training session. Thus, the effect of exogenously administered corticosterone appears to be experience-dependent, with the experience-induced corticosterone concentrations as a critical factor determining the cognitive consequences of steroid treatment. Therefore, this work indicates a facilitating corticosterone action, during the post-training period, on the neural mechanisms determining the strength of information storage under acute, physiological conditions.
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A weak stimulus that produces a negligible phase 1 response, as well as a weak hormonal response, would produce minimal activation of endogenous hippocampal plasticity, and thereby result in poor memory.
“A weak stimulus that produces a negligible phase 1 response, as well as a weak hormonal response, would produce minimal activation of endogenous hippocampal plasticity, and thereby result in poor memory (Sandi et al. [79]).”
From The Temporal Dynamics Model of Emotional Memory Processing: A Synthesis on the Neurobiological Basis of Stress-Induced Amnesia, Flashbulb and Traumatic Memories, and the Yerkes-Dodson Law (2007) · cites this paper as Sandi et al. [79]
The use of exogenous corticosteroids is not always associated with deleterious effects on cognition; some studies in animals and humans have failed to demonstrate an association, while some provide evidence of corticosteroid-induced cognitive enhancement.
“Furthermore, the use of exogenous corticosteroids is not always associated with deleterious effects on cognition, and some studies in animals and humans have failed to demonstrate an association, while some provide evidence of corticosteroid-induced cognitive enhancement (438–443).”
From Signalling cognition: The gut microbiota and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (2023) · cites this paper as [440]
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- Authors
- Sandi, C., Loscertales, M., & Guaza, C.
- Affiliations
- Instituto Cajal (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Sandi, Carmen
- Venue
- European Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1997-04
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 637-642
- ISSN
- 0953-816X (ISSN-L)
- 1460-9568
- OpenAlex
- W2101333441
- Cited by
- 447
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 7.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- infoscience.epfl.ch
- Locations
- European Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- corticosterone, spatial memory, memory consolidation, Morris water maze, stress hormones, water temperature, hippocampus, long-term potentiation, memory retrieval
- MeSH terms
- Analysis of Variance, Animals, Cognition, Corticosterone, Male, Memory, Neuronal Plasticity, Space Perception, Temperature, Time Factors, Rats, Wistar, Long-Term Potentiation, Maze Learning, Rats
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