Abstract

Introduction

Materials & Methods

Results

Discussion & Conclusion

References

Discussion
Board

Phenytoin-treated subjects were impaired in their ability to locate the platform; and even when [if] they succesfully escaped, their latency to do so was longer than controls.

Rats treated with carbamazepine were initially impaired in locating the platform, but quickly performed comparable to controls.

Our findings generally support the notion that phenytoin may be exerting its antiseizure effects via the hippocampal formation or the prefrontal cortex.

Rats treated with valproic acid were not impaired in the acquisition of an escape response nor were their indices of swim speed, path length or escape latency different from controls.

While rats treated with ethosuximide were not statistically different from controls in the indices of swim speed, path length or escape latency, their overall performance suggests that there could be a small effect on learning that we will explore in the future.

Therefore, we suggest that the Morris water maze task, when used in conjunction with other behavioral tasks, is an effective tool for comparing the relative negative effects of various antiepileptic compounds on learning and memory tasks.

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