Discriminative and motor performance in rats after interference with dopamine neurotransmission with spiroperidol - PubMed (original) (raw)

Discriminative and motor performance in rats after interference with dopamine neurotransmission with spiroperidol

C Ranje et al. Eur J Pharmacol. 1977.

Abstract

The disruption of instrumental conditioning after block of central dopamine neurotransmission with drugs or lesions has been explained as an inability to initiate movements rather than as a disruption of learning mechanisms per se. To further investigate this we have developed an under-water swim maze which is a test situation that partly counteracts the akinesia of the animals. The maze has been used to test the effect of dopamine receptor inhibition by spiroperidol on a brightness and a spatial discrimination task. Aquisition was blocked and the behaviour randomized after 0.05 mg/kg and higher doses. Swim speed, however, was not affected by 0.05 mg/kg. This suggests that spiroperidol affects the acquisition of this brightness discrimination task independently of its effects on motor performance. Spatial acquisition was not affected even at 5.0 mg/kg which shows that the deficit can not be generalized to all types of acquisition.

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