Caffeine and copulatory experience: interactive effects on social investigatory behavior.
Three experiments test the interaction of prior copulatory experience with acute caffeine exposure on social investigatory behavior of the male Norway rat. At a dosage of 20 mg/kg or greater, caffeine counteracts a decrease in social investigation attributed to copulatory experience. At a 10 mg/kg dosage, caffeine increases social investigatory behavior prior to sexual exposure but has no comparable effect after sexual exposure. The results are interpreted as confirming a long-term effect of copulatory exposure on social investigatory behavior and as describing a dose-related interaction of caffeine exposure with prior copulatory experience. Social investigation is viewed as a preliminary component of sexual behavior and the decrease in social investigation following copulatory experience as a gain in efficiency of social discrimination. Acute caffeine exposure apparently interferes with access or retrieval of reference information in long-term memory.
D000818:Animals; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003307:Copulation; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012919:Social Behavior
D002110:Caffeine