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Effects of scopolamine on operant avoidance acquisition and retention

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Summary

Three experiments demonstraced that i.p. doses of 0.1 mg/kg scopolamine resulted in higher response rates and lower shock rates than normal during acquisition of lever pressing Sidman avoidance responses by rats. A fourth experiment confirmed previous reports that well-trained rats were not affected by such low doses of the drug. The scopolamine-induced acquisition performance changes were a function of baseline shock rate. Maintained savings of the higher response rates, but not of the lower shock rates, were, nevertheless, found in subsequent undrugged sessions after initial acquisition with scopolamine.

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Leaf, R.C., Muller, S.A. Effects of scopolamine on operant avoidance acquisition and retention. Psychopharmacologia 9, 101–109 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00404715

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