Abstract
The spontaneous upstream swimming of goldfish (N=1318) into a quiet well was suppressed in one trial by electric shock (2.0 V/cm). Independent groups of fish, at 25‡ C, retained this learned avoidance 1, 4, 16, and 64 h after training but not 256 h after training. When trained fish were treated, 3 min after training, with a 16-min exposure to convulsive solutions of flurothyl (Indoklon®), their retention of avoidance 16, 64, or 256 h later was facilitated. This retroactive facilitation (RF) of long-term memory in goldfish by flurothyl could not be attributed to proactive or aversive effects of the treatment. Goldfish treated in water saturated with carbon dioxide (80% CO2∶20% O2) showed retrograde amnesia (RA). Neither the RF from flurothyl nor the RA from CO2-treatment were diminished when training and treatment were given to goldfish at 20‡ or 15‡ C. The memory-enhancing effect of flurothyl convulsions, and its delayed onset, may relate to the dual stimulant-depressant action of the drug and differ from the RA effect reported for mice and chicks.
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Riege, W.H., Cherkin, A. Retroactive facilitation of memory in goldfish by flurothyl. Psychopharmacologia 30, 195–204 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422866
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422866