Abstract
A series of experiments examined the effect of intraperitoneal injections of yeast RNA on the behavior of rats in various situations. Animals injected with RNA were superior to control animals in a task involving climbing a pole to escape shock. There were no significant differences in other shock motivated learning tasks, open field activity, strength or endurance, or basal metabolic rate. Evidence was considered which suggests that any effects of intraperitoneal RNA injections would be mediated primarily by processes taking place outside of the brain.
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This research was supported by Medical Research Council of Canada Grant MA 1746 and Dominion Provincial Mental Health Grant 604-7-499 and by Public Health Service Fellowship 2 F2 HD-25, 618-02 G+D. We thank Susanna Kertesz, Antoinette Kipman, Adrienne Spiegel and Hyman Rabinovitch for their assistance.
An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03330923.
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Corson, J.A., Enesco, H.E. Some effects of injections of ribonucleic acid. Psychon Sci 5, 217–218 (1966). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328360
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328360