Post-training administration of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) enhances retention of a spatial memory through a noradrenergic mechanism in male rats

Hormones released in response to stress play important roles in cognition. In the present study, the effects of the stress peptide, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), on spatial reference memory were assessed following post-training administration. Adult Long-Evans male rats were trained for 6 days on a standard water maze task of reference memory in which animals must learn and remember the fixed location of a hidden, submerged platform. Each day, immediately following three training trials, rats received bilateral infusions of CRH into the lateral ventricles over a range of doses (0.1, 0.33, 1.0, 3.3 μg) or a vehicle solution. Post-training infusions of CRH improved retention as indicated by significantly shorter latencies and path lengths to locate the hidden platform on the first training (retention) trial of days 2 and 3. Additionally, post-training administration of CRH increased spatial bias during probe trials as measured by proximity to the platform location. CRH did not enhance performance on retention or probe trials when administered 2 h after daily training indicating that CRH facilitated consolidation specifically. The effects of CRH were attenuated by intraventricular co-administration of the beta-adrenergic antagonist, propanolol, at bilateral doses that had no effect on retention alone (0.1, 1.0 μg). Results indicate that post-training administration of CRH enhanced spatial memory as measured in a water maze, and this effect was mediated, at least partly, by a noradrenergic mechanism.