Abstract
A series of three experiments was conducted to determine if epinephrine administered to animals given prior shock might support learning to new environmental cues paired with the epinephrine injection. Experiment 1, utilizing nonnaive rats, provided results snowing that such learning is possible. The effect, while dose-dependent, did not appear to be based on either epinephrine-induced place aversion or on sensitization. The results of Experiment 2 confirmed the basic finding when naive animals were utilized. Experiment 3 examined more carefully the potential contribution of generalized fear, impairment of extinction of fear, and nonspecific sensitization to the phenomenon. Since the findings did not support these alternative interpretations, it appears that epinephrine administration to previously stressed rats does indeed support new learning. The epinephrine-cue association may be mediated by either of two mechanisms: (1) higher order conditioning or (2) memory reactivation. The redintegrative function of epinephrine injections, in terms of modulating memory processing, is also discussed.
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This research was supported by a NIH postdoctoral fellowship awarded to the first author (MH-07358) and by NIMH Grant MH 30223 to the second author. A preliminary report of this research was presented at the 1978 Psychonomic Society meetings.
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Concannon, J.T., Riccio, D.C. & McKelvey, J. Pavlovian conditioning of fear based upon hormonal mediation of prior aversive experience. Animal Learning & Behavior 8, 75–80 (1980). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209732
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209732