Amelioration of sensory attention and sensorimotor deficits by chromaffin cell grafts to the cerebral cortex of nucleus basalis magnocellularis lesioned rats

Abstract Rats that have received lesions to the nucleus basalis magnocellularis display with a variety of behavioral deficits; among these are decreases in performance of maze tests as well as deficiencies on measures of general health, sensory attention and sensorimotor abilities. We have previously shown that grafts of chromaffin cells placed in the cerebral cortex of nucleus basalis magnocellularis lesioned rats can ameliorate the lesion-induced deficits in performance of a task involving spatial memory. In the present study, we find that lesion-induced deficits in the sensory attention measure of exploration of the environment (head scanning) as well as the sensorimotor behavior involving a rat righting itself when placed nose down on an inclined grid are evident at 8 weeks post-lesion in lesioned-alone rats; these deficits are significantly ameliorated by chromaffin cell grafts in the cerebral cortex placed two weeks following the lesion procedure. These findings may have relevance to the use of chromaffin cells for grafting in neurodegenerative disorders in which sensorimotor or attention deficit components are involved.