title: Protective effect of under-reinforcement of passive avoidance against scopolamine-induced amnesia.
abstract: Administration of antimuscarinic drugs induces amnesia of aversively motivated behaviors. However, when relatively high intensities of footshock are used during training (over-reinforcement), animals become protected against such amnesic state. Moreover, the protective effect is established in a none-or-all fashion, i.e., within a series of increasing intensities a minute augmentation of footshock intensity is sufficient to reach the protective threshold. In the present experiment it was found that very low intensities of aversive stimulation (under-reinforcement), sufficient to produce learning, also protected animals from scopolamine-induced amnesia. These results suggest that acetylcholine is critically involved in memory consolidation of passive avoidance, but only within a limited range of training intensities.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Guadalajara, México.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Quirarte
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Cruz-Morales
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Diaz del Guante
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Prado-Alcalá
mesh_terms: D000647:Amnesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012601:Scopolamine
chemical_list: D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists; D012601:Scopolamine