Date of Award
2011
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.Sc.
Department
Biological Sciences
Keywords
Neurosciences.
Supervisor
Cohen, Jerome (Biological Sciences)
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Nissen and Bullemer (1987) developed the serial reaction time (SRT) task to measure attention in humans. The SRT task in rats is typically modeled after studies with humans and uses repeated or random sequences to test anticipatory reactions. In the current study, paraquat (PQ)-induced Parkinson's disease (PD) model in Long-Evans hooded rats was used to examine the rats' sequential learning. A water-soluble formulation of coenzyme Q10 (WS- CoQ10) was used as a therapeutic agent. Rats were induced with Parkinson's disease via the administration of paraquat. The aim of this study was to study the neuroprotective effects of CoQ10 using the SRT task to measure sequence performance in rats. The results indicated that the rats were much faster in responding to fixed sequences compared to random sequences. However, this study did not find significant results to indicate that exposure of paraquat with or without a neuroprotective agent, WS-CoQ10 affected serial reaction performance. The implications of these findings are discussed with suggestions for further research with this task.
Recommended Citation
Parameswaran, Varakini, "The Effects of Paraquat Exposure on Serial Reaction Time Performance in Rats (Rattus norvegicus) and Neuroprotection by Water-Soluble COQ10" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 69.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/69