Impairment of spatial learning following preweaning cocaine exposure in the adult rat

The present investigation focuses on learning and working memory capabilities of adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats that were exposed to either cocaine (50 mg/kg/day sc) or distilled water during infancy (postnatal days 11-20). Learning and memory were assessed at 4 months using the eight-arm radial maze. Training was carried out in three phases in order to separate procedural learning from spatial capacity. Once criterion (entering at least seven arms without repeating arms for four out of five trials) was achieved in the first training room (Room 1), testing was moved to a second room (Room 2) with unique visual cues and an identical maze. Upon reaching criterion in Room 2, animals were returned to Room 1 and examined again. Cocaine-pretreated rats were less accurate than vehicle-pretreated rats during the first 10 trials of training. During the first five trials in Room 2 cocaine-pretreated animals made more errors, and made errors earlier within trials, than the vehicle-pretreated animals. Upon return to Room 1, reliable Gender x Pretreatment interactions were found for errors and total arms entered. These data demonstrate that a brief period of postnatal cocaine exposure can impair spatial cognition in adulthood and tentatively suggest that females are more sensitive than males.