Hypothermia: Amnesic agent, punisher, and conditions sufficient to attenuate amnesia

Abstract

In three experiments, the effects of prior experience with hypothermia as a manipulation to attenuate amnesia were examined. In Experiment 1, prior experience with one hypothermia treatment did not appear to influence the amnesic effects of hypothermia. In Experiment 2, hypothermia treatment was made contingent upon stepping into a darkened chamber of a passive avoidance apparatus daily for 8 days. By Day 8, latencies indicated that subjects could remember the previous hypothermia treatments. The values of hypothermia found to produce learning in Experiment 2 were then used to evaluate several retrieval hypotheses concerning the prevention of amnesia in Experiment 3. Rats which received eight daily hypothermia treatments, as well as rats restrained without immersion, showed little evidence of amnesia following a train-hypothermia treatment. Results were interpreted as supporting the view that amnesia may be produced because important contextual cues necessary for memory retrieval are usually absent during testing.