Correlations between paradoxical sleep and shuttle-box conditioning in rats.
Eighteen male Wistar rats were given one daily two-way active avoidance conditioning session followed immediately by 5 hr of sleep recording, for 5 consecutive days. The group of rats that achieved 80% or greater avoidance in some of the 5 training sessions showed significant linear increases of paradoxical sleep (PS), compared with baseline levels, throughout the successive conditioning sessions. Furthermore, (a) the group of rats showing PS increases (more than 1 SD above baseline) after some of the training sessions achieved a significantly higher final number of avoidances than the remaining animals: (b) a high and positive correlation was observed between avoidance increases in the 3rd conditioning session and previous PS; and (c) maximum increases in correct performance often occurred following high PS increases. It is concluded that PS increases facilitate the consolidation of learning.
Portell-Cortés
I
I
Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Martí-Nicolovius
M
M
Segura-Torres
P
P
Morgado-Bernal
I
I
D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*