Skip to main content
Log in

Comparison of error patterns produced by scopolamine and MK-801 on repeated acquisition and transition baselines

Psychopharmacology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An understanding of the differential role of cholinergic and glutaminergic systems may be limited by the failure to move the analysis of learning impairments beyond an assessment of changes in overall accuracy. This paper reports the results of two studies in which the effects in rats of scopolamine (0.5–3.0 mg/kg IP), a cholinergic antagonist, and MK-801 (0.05–0.3 mg/kg IP), an NMDA-receptor antagonist, were compared in two different repeated learning procedures and the nature of the underlying error patterns produced by each was evaluated. The first study examined drug effects upon a repeated sequence acquisition procedure and found that while both drugs decreased overall accuracy in a dose-dependent manner, the predominant error pattern varied significantly with drug; scopolamine primarily produced skipping errors within the sequence, whereas MK-801 more prominently increased perseveration on the first and second members of the sequence. In the second study, which used a repeated transition procedure, both drugs again significantly decreased overall accuracy in a dose-dependent manner, but no consistent differences in error patterning produced by the drugs were observed. Thus, while both cholinergic and NMDA systems play a role in learning, the behavioral processes underlying the changes in overall accuracy may differ, as indicated by the differential patterns of errors produced by scopolamine and MK-801 in the repeated acquisition baseline. Furthermore, the observed differences in the underlying behavioral processes of scopolamine and MK-801 in the repeated acquisition but not on the repeated transition procedure suggest that each of the two drugs may affect more than one of the variables controlling behavior, with the relative impact of drug-related changes in controlling variables depending upon the operative contingencies of the learning task.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Boren JJ (1963) Repeated acquisition of new behavioral chains. Am Psychol 17:421

    Google Scholar 

  • Butelman ER (1989) A novel NMDA antagonist, MK-801, impairs performance in a hippocampal-dependent spatial learning task. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 34:13–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Chambers JM, Cleaveland WS, Kleiner B, Tukey PA (1983) Graphical methods for data analysis. Wadsworth International Group and Duxbury Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleeves L, Green SE (1982) Effects of scopolamine on visual difference thresholds in the pigeon. Physiol Psychol 10[3]:306–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Cory-Slechta DA, Weiss B, Cox C (1985) Performance and exposure indices of rats exposed to low concentrations of lead. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 78:291–299

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cotman CW, Bridges RJ, Taube JS, Clark AS, Geddes JW, Monaghan DT (1989) The role of the NMDA receptor in central nervous system plasticity. J NIH Res 1:65–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Drachman DA (1977) Memory and cognitive function in man: does the cholinergic system have a specific role? Neurology 27:783–790

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins ST, Woodward BM, Henningfield JE (1989) Effects of atropine on the repeated acquisition and performance of response sequences in humans. J Exp Anal Behav 51:5–15

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Howard JL, Pollard GT (1983) Effects ofd-amphetamine, org 2766, scopolamine, and physostigmine on repeated acquisition of four-response chains in the rat. Drug Dev Res 3:37–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy A, Elsmore TF, Hursh SR (1984) Central vs peripheral anticholinergic effects on repeated acquisition of behavioral chains. Behav Neural Biol 40:1–4

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Palfai T, Wichlinski L, Brown OM (1983) The effect of reserpine, syrosingopine, and guanethidine on the retention of discriminated escape reversal: peripherally administered catecholamines cannot reverse the reserpine amnesia in this situation. Behav Neural Biol 38[1]:120–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Penetar DM (1985) The effects of atropine, benactyzine, and physostigmine on a repeated acquisition baseline in monkeys. Psychopharmacology 87:69–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrot J, Thomas JR (1983) Alteration of response patterning byd-amphetamine on repeated acquisition in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 18:529–534

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrot J, Thomas JR, Banvard RA (1981) Response patterning in a repeated acquisition baseline with rats. Psychol Rep 48:635–643

    Google Scholar 

  • Snapper AG, Kadden RM, Inglis GB (1982) State notation of behavioral procedures. Res Methods Instrum 14:329–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Soffie M, Lamberty Y (1987) Scopolamine disrupts visual reversal without affecting the first discrimination. Physiol Behav 40[2]:263–265

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson DM, Moerschbaecher JM, Winsauer PJ (1983) Drug effects on repeated acquisition: comparison of cumulative and non-cumulative dosing. J Exp Anal Behav 39:175–184

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson DM, Mastropaolo J, Winsauer PJ (1986) Repeated acquisition and delayed performance as a baseline to assess drug effects on retention in monkeys. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 25:201–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsai LS (1987) Relative effects of scopolamine and electroconvulsive shock upon habit reversal in white rats. Percept Mot Skills 65[2]:580–582

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ward L, Mason SE, Abraham WC (1990) Effects of the NMDA antagonists CPP and MK-801 on radial arm maze performance in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 35:785–790

    Google Scholar 

  • Wozniak DF, Olney JW, Kettinger III L, Price M, Miller JP (1990) Behavioral effects of MK-801 in the rat. Psychopharmacology 101:47–56

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cohn, J., Ziriax, J.M., Cox, C. et al. Comparison of error patterns produced by scopolamine and MK-801 on repeated acquisition and transition baselines. Psychopharmacology 107, 243–254 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02245144

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02245144

Key words

Navigation