Abstract
Rats which had been chronically injected with nicotine or with saline during avoidance training were observed during subsequent avoidance experiments. Among those trained and tested on an unsignalled schedule lever-holding and crouching were frequent and the stimulant effects of nicotine, though consistent, were small. When a warning signal preceded each shock or a feedback signal followed each response lever-holding and crouching were reduced. In these experiments the rats tested with saline were inactive but they tended to lie down rather than crouch during their periods of immobility. Nicotine-treated rats in the signalled experiments were active with high levels of sniffing and grooming behaviour. It is suggested that the lever-holding and crouching in the unsignalled experiment were both aspects of freezing behaviour.
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Morrison, C.F. Effects of nicotine on the observed behaviour of rats during signalled and unsignalled avoidance experiments. Psychopharmacologia 38, 37–46 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421285
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421285