title: Adolescent exposure to nicotine impairs adult serial pattern learning in rats.
abstract: In the present study investigating the effects of adolescent nicotine exposure on adult serial pattern learning, adolescent rats received daily i.p. injections of either 1.0 mg/kg nicotine or saline for 5 days per week for 5 weeks beginning on postnatal day 25 (P25), then were allowed 35 days drug free. Rats then began training on P95 as adults on a 24-element serial pattern composed of eight 3-element chunks. Adolescent exposure to 1.0 mg/kg nicotine produced persistent retardation of learning for the first element of each 3-element chunk of the pattern, that is, for chunk boundary elements, and transient retardation of learning for elements 2 and 3 of each chunk of the pattern, that is, for the within-chunk elements. Deficits at chunk boundaries were interpreted as deficits of phrasing cue discrimination learning whereas deficits for learning responses for elements within-chunks (elements 2 and 3 of chunks) were interpreted as deficits of rule learning. These results indicate that the effects of adolescent nicotine exposure on adult learning and cognitive capacity deserve further scrutiny.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242-0001 USA. sfountai@kent.edu
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Fountain
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rowan
authors.forename: Brian M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: Amanda R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Willey
authors.forename: Eric P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Nolley
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012691:Serial Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine