The Impact of Neonatal Methamphetamine on Spatial Learning and Memory in Adult Female Rats

The present study was aimed at evaluating cognitive changes following neonatal methamphetamine exposure in combination with repeated treatment in adulthood of female Wistar rats. Pregnant dams and their pups were used in this study. One half of the offspring were treated indirectly via the breast milk of injected mothers, and the other half of pups were treated directly by methamphetamine injection. In the group with indirect exposure, mothers received methamphetamine (5 mg/ml/kg) or saline (1 ml/kg) between postnatal days (PD) 1–11. In the group with direct exposure, none of the mothers were treated. Instead, progeny were either: (1) treated with injected methamphetamine (5 mg/ml/kg); or (2) served as controls and received sham injections (no saline, just a needle stick) on PD 1–11. Learning ability and memory consolidation were tested on PD 70–90 in the Morris Water Maze (MWM) using three tests: Place Navigation Test, Probe Test, and Memory Recall Test. Adult female progeny were injected daily, after completion of the last trial of MWM tests, with saline or methamphetamine (1 mg/ml/kg). The effects of indirect/direct neonatal methamphetamine exposure combined with acute adult methamphetamine treatment on cognitive functions in female rats were compared. Statistical analyses showed that neonatal drug exposure worsened spatial learning and the ability to remember the position of a hidden platform. The study also demonstrated that direct methamphetamine exposure has a more significant impact on learning and memory than indirect exposure. The acute dose of the drug did not produce any changes in cognitive ability. Analyses of search strategies (thigmotaxis, scanning) used by females during the Place Navigation Test and Memory Recall Test confirmed all these results. Results from the present study suggested extensive deficits in learning skills and memory of female rats that may be linked to the negative impact of neonatal methamphetamine exposure.

Navigating learning worlds: Using digital tools to learn in physical and virtual spaces

This article explores the various ways that teachers and learners can navigate different learning worlds with the support of digital tools. Increasingly, teaching and learning takes place in spaces beyond the classroom, whether physical or virtual. Place, navigation and movement have all been recognised as important concepts in approaches to understanding how we learn in and across places. With our postgraduate cohort of in-service teachers from across New Zealand, we have been exploring forms of learning that engage in the exploration of other spaces, using a range of digital tools. Google Tour Builder has allowed creative global navigation in a virtual space, Google Expeditions has given teachers an opportunity to integrate virtual reality into their classrooms, and Actionbound has exposed them to the use and design of situated outdoor learning activities with geolocated augmented content. Our article is based around participant interactions on social media that express their responses and creativity using mobility in physical spaces and the navigation of virtual spaces. Based on these interactions, we reflect on the nature of pedagogy in technology-redefined activities that involve senses of both place and navigation, structuring our analysis along two continua of physical accessibility and the extent of world knowledge.