The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and effects of low-frequency stimulation (LFS) of the anterior piriform cortex (APC) on memory function in rats.

Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with a tripolar electrode in APC and unipolar electrodes bilaterally in the hippocampi. We tested 4 different groups: APC-LFS (KA+LFS+; N=7), control (KA+LFS-; N=7), sham (KA-LFS+; N=6) and normal (KA- LFS-; N=6) groups. The LFS and control groups were injected with KA intraperitoneally and the sham group received saline injections. Two weeks after the emergence of spontaneous recurrent seizures, APC was stimulated in both the LFS as well as the sham groups. Two to three weeks after LFS all four groups were tested in the Radial Arm Maze (RAM). All animals received two sessions of habituation before conducting the test in an eight-arm maze for eight consecutive days.

The entry to each arm is recorded and the performance is evaluated by measuring the latency (the duration of time that it takes to enter all the eight arms).

Repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze differences in RAM performance between each group. There were significant differences in latency between the performance of LFS and control groups as well as between sham and control groups. There were no significant differences in latency among LFS, sham and normal groups. Accurate placement of electrodes was confirmed histologically in all 26 rats.