Disruptive effects of low doses of d-amphetamine on the ability of rats to organize behaviour into functional sequences

Abstract

A complex laboratory task was used to test the effects of low doses of d-amphetamine on decision making in the white rat. In particular, the animals' ability to organize their behaviour into functional sequences was studied. The rats were required to choose between two options in order to obtain rewards (water). To solve the problem efficiently, the animal must correctly use information currently available about the reward probabilities and the response costs of the two activities. The results showed that already at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg, by comparison with control, the decision rule was significantly affected and the efficiency of the behaviour decreased. At 1 mg/kg, the rats were generally unable to organize their behaviour into functional sequences resulting in rewards even though they were able to perform the separate behavioural responses required to solve the task, as shown in separate control experiments. Low doses of d-amphetamine have previously been described to be “psychomotor stimulant” and, for example, to increase locomotion and exploration. Our conclusion is that these low doses do not increase behavioural output in an adaptive way. In simple tasks where motor output is directly related to a measure of performance, these doses might be interpreted as causing increased efficiency. However, when tested in our complex decision making task, these doses result in suboptimal behaviour.