Background: The advent of brain stimulation techniques to treat movement disorders and psychiatric diseases has shown potential to decode the neural mechanism that underlies the cognitive process by modulating the interrupted circuit. Here, the present investigation aimed at evaluating the influence of deep brain stimulation of the anterior nucleus thalamus (ANT-DBS) on memory.
Methods: Thirty-two rats were randomized into phosphate buffer saline (PBS) group (n = 8, rats received PBS injections without implantation of electrodes into the ANT), Alzheimer's dementia (AD) group (n = 8, rats received Aβ1-40 injections without implantation of electrodes into the ANT), ANT sham stimulation group (n = 8, rats received Aβ1-40 injections with implantation of electrodes into the ANT but without stimulation) and ANT stimulation group (n = 8, rats received Aβ1-40 injections with implantation of electrodes into the ANT and stimulation). A Morris maze test was used for determining the effect of electrical stimulation on cognitive function in rats. The data were assessed statistically with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey's tests for multiple post hoc comparisons.
Results: The data showed that in the training test, PBS group and AD group managed to learn the hidden-platform faster and faster while AD group needed a significantly longer time to reach the platform than PBS group (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, ANT stimulation group demonstrated a significantly shorter time to reach the platform (P < 0.05) compared to the AD group, while there was no significant difference between the ANT sham stimulation group and the AD group (P > 0.05). On the probe test, the AD group spent less time ((10.15 ± 2.34) seconds) in the target quadrant than the PBS group ((28.20 ± 2.75) seconds) (P < 0.05). And the times of platform-traversing of the AD group (3.35 ± 1.12) significantly decreased compared with the PBS group (8.69 ± 2.87) (P < 0.05). However, the times of platform-traversing and the time spent in the target quadrant of the ANT stimulation group significantly increased compared to the AD group (P < 0.05), while times of platform-traversing or the time spent in the target quadrant was not significantly different between the ANT sham stimulation group and the AD group (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Bilateral high-frequency stimulation of the ANT may be useful as a potential therapeutic modality for cognitive dysfunction in AD.