Abstract
Morphine and heroin were administered to mice learning to swim toward a light source (l procedure) or toward the dark (d procedure), in a Y water maze, under pre- and post-trial drug treatment conditions.
In the pre-trial experiments a clear disrupting effect on performance with the two procedures followed administration of both drugs, but for the l procedure, performance never fell below the 50% level of correct choices.
Analysis of the performance within each session demonstrated a disruption in the long term memory consolidation mechanism. The administration of naloxone, or alternatively, discontinuation of the treatment, was followed by a gradual improvement, in performance by the treated animals.
In both procedures, a performance disruption also followed the administration of the drugs immediately after each experimental session.
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Castellano, C. Effects of morphine and heroin on discrimination learning and consolidation in mice. Psychopharmacologia 42, 235–242 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421262
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421262