Abstract
Male, Holtzman rats were trained extensively on an attention task which required them to respond with a single lever-press to a very short, variably presented stimulus for food reinforcement, but which also required them to inhibit inappropriate responses. After performance had stabilized, two groups were treated with either nicotine base (100 Μg/kg, s.c., t.i.d.) or saline for 4 weeks. The groups were crossed-over so that the first received saline and the second nicotine for an additional 4 weeks. A 3-week saline recovery period followed. Rats were tested on the attention task daily through all periods. Analysis of the data indicated that independent of the treatment-order, rats performed more efficiently under nicotine treatment than under saline conditions. The improvement in performance was most notable in the reduction of inappropriate responding during chronic nicotine treatment. The significance of the behavioral changes in relation to proposed nicotine-induced neurophysiological changes and the two-arousal hypothesis are discussed.
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This work was supported by a Grant from the Council for Tobacco Research, U.S.A.
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Nelsen, J.M., Goldstein, L. Improvement of performance on an attention task with chronic nicotine treatment in rats. Psychopharmacologia 26, 347–360 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421900
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421900