The effects of preexposure to the drug on state dependent retention

Stephen T. Ahlers*, Timothy L. Gordon, David C. Riccio

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present experiment examined whether previous experience with a drug would decrease the potential of the drug to produce state dependent retention (SDR) for a passive avoidance response in rats. In the first experiment, a single injection of sodium pentobarbital (20 mg/kg) given on six consecutive days before the training day slightly reduced, but did not block, pentobarbital-induced SDR. In Experiment Two, four preexposure injections of 5 IU/kg insulin reduced the magnitude of memory loss produced by administration of the hormone prior to training. As with pentobarbital, however, preexposure to insulin did not completely block the amnestic effect of the hormone. A subsequent experiment demonstrated that the decrease in the strength of insulin-induced SDR in insulin preexposed rats was not the result of enhanced acquisition. Collectively, these data indicate that noncontingent preexposure to an amnestic treatment may decrease the magnitude of memory loss that would normally result from the administration of that treatment during training.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)365-371
Number of pages7
JournalPhysiology and Behavior
Volume50
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1991
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Amnesia
  • Insulin
  • Memory
  • Pentobarbital
  • Preexposure
  • Rats
  • State dependent learning (SDL)
  • State dependent retention (SDR)

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