en Behavioral Neuroscience Behavioral Neuroscience Original Original <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Introduction</strong>: It has long been known that Methamphetamine (MA), as a psychostimulant, leads to long-lasting cognitive deficits. Previous studies have shown that lithium, a mood stabilizer, could facilitate cognitive ability in most of brain diseases. In current study the effects of lithium on spatial memory, hippocampal apoptosis and brain edema in METH-exposed rats are investigated.<br> <strong>Methods</strong>: The present study 32 Wistar rats were used to examine the effects of lithium on spatial memory by the Morris water maze, hippocampal apoptosis using the TUNEL assay, and brain edema following MA administrations.&nbsp;<br> <strong>Results</strong>: The findings indicated that treatment with lithium significantly ameliorated spatial learning and memory impairment in MA-treated rats. In addition, the findings showed that treatment with lithium significantly reduced brain edema and apoptosis in the CA1 neurons in MA -exposed rats.&nbsp;<br> <strong>Conclusion</strong>: The results show that treatment with lithium can partially ameliorate the MA &ndash;induced neurocognitive deficits in rats, which may be related to its protective effect in the hippocampus.</div> Lithium, Methamphetamine, Spatial learning and memory, Apoptosis, Brain edema 605 614 http://bcn.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2297-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Hamed Ghazvini hghazvini1@gmail.com 13700319475328460046653 13700319475328460046653 Yes Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Fatemeh Tirgar serah086@yahoo.com 13700319475328460046654 13700319475328460046654 No Department of Neuroscience and Addiction Studies, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mehdi Khodamoradi mehdi0khodamoradi@gmail.com 13700319475328460046655 13700319475328460046655 No Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. Seyedeh Masoumeh Seyedhosseini Tamijani seyedhoseini_sm@yahoo.com 13700319475328460046656 13700319475328460046656 No Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Saba Niknamfar saba.niknam45@gmail.com 13700319475328460046657 0009-0007-8364-4889 No Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Esmaeil Akbari behtarinha00@yahoo.com 13700319475328460046658 13700319475328460046658 No Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Mohammad Nekahi ma.nekahi@gmail.com 13700319475328460046659 13700319475328460046659 No Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Nabiollah Tarjani amir.twoat@yahoo.com 13700319475328460046660 0009-0008-7663-804X No Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Hossein Ghalehnoei hossein.ghalehnoei58@gmail.com 13700319475328460046661 13700319475328460046661 No Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Motahareh Rouhi Ardeshiri motaharerohi340@gmail.com 13700319475328460046662 13700319475328460046662 No Immunogenetics Research Center, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.