title: Scopolamine deficits in negative patterning discrimination: evidence for a role of the central cholinergic system in retention but not acquisition of non-spatial configural association learning.
abstract: The effects of scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg s.c. and 0.6 mg/kg s.c.) were assessed on the acquisition and retention of a negative patterning discrimination task in rats. At 0.1 mg/kg scopolamine did not affect either acquisition or retention of the task. At 0.6 mg/kg scopolamine did not affect acquisition but did impair retention of the task. This impairment is likely to be centrally mediated as N-methyl scopolamine (0.6 mg/kg s.c.) did not affect retention. Lack of effect of scopolamine on acquisition of the task indicates that the central cholinergic system is not a necessary substrate of the acquisition of non-spatial configural associations. The scopolamine-induced deficit in retention of the task, suggests that there may, however, be a central cholinergic involvement in the retention/retrieval of this type of learning.
authors.affiliation: Marion Merrell Dow Research Institute, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Moran
mesh_terms: D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000187:drug effects; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects*; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D019832:N-Methylscopolamine; D010276:Parasympatholytics / Q000494:pharmacology; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000187:drug effects*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects*; D012601:Scopolamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012602:Scopolamine Derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D010276:Parasympatholytics; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D012602:Scopolamine Derivatives; D000661:Amphetamine; D012601:Scopolamine; D019832:N-Methylscopolamine