title: Effect of antibiotics on retention of visual discrimination training and on protein synthesis in the pigeon.
abstract: Forty-three pigeons were trained for one day on a visual discrimination (horizontal vs. vertical stripes) and then immediately injected with either puromycin (PM), cycloheximide (CXM), control saline, or combined PM and CXM solution. PM produced a marked amnesic effect, CXM a weaker effect. PM injected animals (but not CXM's) also took significantly more than 1 day longer than controls to reach criterion levels, indicating an effect on continued acquisition of the discrimination beyond the amnesia for Day 1. Combination with CXM did not attenuate the PM effects. Protein inhibition profiles showed maximum PM activity of 90% inhibition, whereas CXM's maximum was 98% and was distributed more widely throughout different brain regions. In a second experiment, PM (N = 8), CXM (N = 8) or saline (N = 8) were again injected immediately after training, but the S+ was reversed on all postinjection training trials. In this case, PM animals were superior in percentage of S+ pecks on Day 2 to controls and CXM's. Further, the continued acquisition deficit was absent in the PM group, indicating that this effect is highly specific to those behavioral circuits active at the time of injection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Stettner
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barraco
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Normile
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects; D001931:Brain Mapping; D010856:Columbidae; D003513:Cycloheximide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000187:drug effects*; D011691:Puromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011691:Puromycin; D003513:Cycloheximide