Abstract
Goldfish treated by immersion with the drug piracetam (SKF 38462 or UCB 6215) in their home tanks obtained higher mean levels of correct active dark-avoidance responding than non-drug-treated controls; the difference did not emerge until the last two days of the five days of training. In another experiment, fish immersed in the drug solution before a single session of group training for dark avoidance scored more correct responses during retention testing than fish exposed to only water before training. However, no difference in correct retention responding was found between fish exposed, during the interval between training and testing, to the drug solution and fish exposed to only water. General activity during retention testing was unaffected with respect to pretraining immersion in water or drug solution; however, immersion in the drug solution between training and testing resulted in lower levels of general activity during retention testing.
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This work was supported in part by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health; by a General Research Support Fellowship from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine (to RCB); and by a National Institutes of Health Fellowship No. 1 FO2 GM51238-01-NIGMS (to FP).
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Bryant, R.C., Petty, F. & Byrne, W.L. Effects of piracetam (SKF 38462) on acquisition, retention, and activity in the goldfish. Psychopharmacologia 29, 121–130 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422644
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422644