Scopolamine impairs information processing in the hippocampus and performance of a learned eyeblink response in alert cats

The object of this work was to determine whether the changes in field activity and neuronal excitability recorded in the hippocampus during eyeblink classical conditioning are induced by the cholinergic input, and their relationships with the conditioned response performance. The pyramidal layer field activity, its response to fornix stimulation and eyelid responses were recorded during paired tone-air puff presentations, under scopolamine (25, 50 and 100 mu g/kg) or saline administration, following well-established eyeblink conditioning in a trace paradigm in cats. Scopolamine impaired behavioral performance, and, in the hippocampus, disrupted conditioned stimulus-evoked field potential, high frequency shift in field activity, and paired presentation-induced hyperexcitability. These findings indicate that the cholinergic input participates in hippocampal information processing in a way that allows precise conditioned response performance and memory trace formation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. AII rights reserved.