Paired Associates Learning is Disrupted After Unilateral Parietal Lobe Controlled Cortical Impact in Rats: A Trial-by-Trial Behavioral Analysis

Abstract

Approximately 60-70 million people suffer from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year. As animal models continue to be paramount in understanding and treating cognitive impairment following TBI, the necessity of testing intervention strategies in clinically relevant settings cannot be ignored. This study used a unilateral parietal lobe controlled cortical impact (CCI) model of TBI and tested rats on a touchscreen-based associative learning task, Paired Associates Learning (PAL). In humans, PAL has been used to assess cognitive deficits in stimulus-location association in a multitude of disease states, including TBI. To date, the extent to which a rat model of TBI produces deficits in PAL has not yet been reported, although the usage of PAL will be important for understanding the clinical consequences of cognitive impairment post-injury and throughout intervention treatment. This study details the behavioral and histological consequences of the CCI injury model and closes a translational research gap between basic and clinical TBI research. HIGHLIGHTSO_LIPAL performance declines in a rat model of TBI. C_LIO_LIResponse-driven bias in PAL becomes elevated after TBI. C_LIO_LIInflammatory microglial response in the thalamus correlates with PAL deficit. C_LI