Abstract
The effects of stimulants and depressants on learning and memory in goldfish were investigated in a series of four experiments. Avoidance performance in a two-way, light-cued shuttle task was significantly facilitated by intracranial injection of picrotoxin (1.50 mg/kg) but significantly impaired by injection of sodium pentobarbital (30 mg/kg) 5 min before 20 training trials were given. These drugs in the dosages used in the present study did not affect general activity of the fish. When identical doses of the drugs (along with saline controls) were given immediately after the first two of three 10-trial training sessions given 48 h apart, avoidance performance during the second and third sessions was facilitated and impaired by the posttrial injections of the stimulant and depressant drugs respectively. Moreover, it was found in an extended experiment that picrotoxin improved performance if injected 25 sec or 1 h after each of two 10-trial training sessions, but not if injected after a 4 h delay. Pentobarbital impaired performance if injected 25 sec after training, but not if injected after a 1/2 h or a 1 h delay.
These stimulant and depressant effects demonstrated in goldfish were interpreted in terms of their effects on memory consolidation processes.
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This report is based upon dissertation research by the first author under the supervision of the second author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph. D. degree in the Department of Psychology at the University of Houston, 1972.
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Liu, Y., Braud, W.G. Modification of learning and memory in goldfish through the use of stimulant and depressant drugs. Psychopharmacologia 35, 99–112 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429577
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429577