Abstract
Alcoholism is a mental disease in the course of which depression, anxiety, and cognitive
function deficits may appear, and these symptoms can be aggravated by comorbid schizophrenia.
The aim of this study was to find whether spatial memory (Morris Water Maze) function
impairment is found in prenatally stressed rats (PSG) (prenatal stress paradigm –
animal model of schizophrenia) and whether aripiprazole ARI and olanzapine OLA modify
these functions. It was also important to study the effect of ethyl alcohol administered
to rats.
Behavioural tests showed that ARI and OLA improved spatial memory in the non-stressed
control group (NSCG) and in the PSG. Moreover, spatial memory in the non-stressed
alcohol group (NSAG) improved significantly compared to the NSCG, while in the prenatally
stressed alcohol group (PSAG) spatial memory improved both in comparison to the NSCG
and PSG. No statistically significant differences were found by comparing groups which
received ethyl alcohol (NSAG, PSAG).
Key words
aripiprazole - olanzapine - prenatal stress - spatial memory - ethanol - rats