Extensive research has implicated the amyloid-β protein (Aβ) in the aetiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This protein has been shown to produce memory deficits when injected into rodent brain and in mouse models of AD Aβ production is associated with impaired learning and/or recall. Here we examined the effects of cell-derived SDS-stable 7PA2-derived soluble Aβ oligomers on consolidation of avoidance learning. At 0, 3, 6, 9 or 12 h after training, animals received an intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ-containing or control media and recall was tested at 24 and 48 h. Immediately after 48 h recall animals were transcardially perfused and the brain removed for sectioning and EM analysis. Rats receiving injections of Aβ at 6 or 9 h post-training showed a significant impairment in memory consolidation at 48 h. Importantly, impaired animals injected at 9 h had significantly fewer synapses in the dentate gyrus. These data suggest that Aβ low-n oligomers target specific temporal facets of consolidation-associated synaptic remodelling whereby loss of functional synapses results in impaired consolidation.

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J. Neurochem. (2010) 113, 601–614. Abstract The critical sequence of molecular, neurotransmission and synaptic disruptions that underpin the emergence of psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia remain to be established with progress only likely using animal models that capture key features of such disorders. We have related the emergence of behavioural, neurochemical and synapse ultrastructure deficits to transcriptional dysregulation in the medial prefrontal cortex of Wistar rats reared in isolation. Isolation reared animals developed sensorimotor deficits at postnatal day 60 which persisted into adulthood. Analysis of gene expression prior to the emergence of the sensorimotor deficits revealed a significant disruption in transcriptional control, notably of immediate early and interferon‐associated genes. At postnatal day 60 many gene transcripts relating particularly to GABA transmission and synapse structure, for example Gabra4, Nsf, Syn2 and Dlgh1, transiently increased expression. A subsequent decrease in genes such as Gria2 and Dlgh2 at postnatal day 80 suggested deficits in glutamatergic transmission and synapse integrity, respectively. Microdialysis studies revealed decreased extracellular glutamate suggesting a state of hypofrontality while ultrastructural analysis showed total and perforated synapse complement in layer III to be significantly reduced in the prefrontal cortex of postnatal day 80 isolated animals. These studies provide a molecular framework to understand the developmental emergence of the structural and behavioural characteristics that may in part define psychiatric illness.