Microinfusions of neurotensin antagonist SR 48692 within the nucleus accumbens core impair spatial learning in rats

The involvement of neurotensin (NT) within the nucleus accumbens core (NAC) in behavior has been sparsely investigated. Moreover, little is known of what role NT within the ventral striatum has on spatial learning. The present study investigated whether NT receptors in the NAC are implicated in learning of spatial information. Male Long-Evans rats were trained on a food search spatial learning task. Rats were microinfused with either NT antagonist SR 48692 (50 nM/0.5 mu L) or saline in the NAC before each training session. Rats treated with SR 48692 made more reference and working memory errors during the acquisition of spatial learning than did rats infused with saline. These results suggest that NT receptors contribute to NAC-mediated spatial learning.