Scopolamine impairs recall of one-trial stimulus-reward association in monkeys

Behav Brain Res. 1993 Apr 30;54(2):133-6. doi: 10.1016/0166-4328(93)90071-w.

Abstract

Performance of three rhesus monkeys on a test of one-trial stimulus-reward association, in which recall intervals ranged from 0.5 to 6.5 min, was evaluated during nondrug-control conditions and following administration of the muscarinic-receptor blocker scopolamine. During control sessions, performance averaged 78% correct responses. Following administration of 10.0 and 17.8 micrograms/kg of scopolamine, performance fell significantly, to 69% and 63% correct responses, respectively. This dose-dependent impairment in recall was similar to the impairment we reported previously in recognition. Although the results thus failed to support a suggestion derived from behavioral electrophysiological findings that stimulus-reward association might be more vulnerable to scopolamine than stimulus recognition, they provide additional evidence for a cholinergic contribution to cognitive memory.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Association Learning / drug effects*
  • Attention / drug effects*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Female
  • Limbic System / drug effects*
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Male
  • Mental Recall / drug effects*
  • Neural Pathways / drug effects
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual / drug effects
  • Prosencephalon / drug effects*
  • Receptors, Muscarinic / drug effects*
  • Scopolamine / pharmacology*
  • Visual Cortex / drug effects*

Substances

  • Receptors, Muscarinic
  • Scopolamine