Role of acetylcholine in negative patterning in turtles (Chrysemys picta).
Turtles were run on a negative patterning task involving 2 positive elements, a key with white stripes on a black background, and a solid red key, and a compound stimulus combining the 2 elements, white stripes on a red background. Injections of scopolamine, methylscopolamine, or saline were started at the same time that the compound stimulus was introduced, after the animals had been autoshaped to press the key for each of the elements. Scopolamine disrupted the learning of negative patterning, but methylscopolamine had no effect. In contrast, learning of a simple discrimination between the elements was not affected by scopolamine. These results show that muscarinic cholinergic receptors are involved in the learning of negative patterning in turtles.
Powers
Alice Schade
AS
Department of Psychology, St. John's University, Jamaica, NY 11439, USA. powersa@stjohns.edu
Hogue
Phillip
P
Lynch
Christian
C
Gattuso
Brian
B
Lissek
Shmuel
S
Nayal
Christine
C
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D019832:N-Methylscopolamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011336:Probability; D011897:Random Allocation; D012601:Scopolamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D014426:Turtles / Q000502:physiology*
D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists; D012601:Scopolamine; D000109:Acetylcholine; D019832:N-Methylscopolamine