Preinjection time of scopolamine and step-down latency in mice

Abstract

The effect of scopolamine on performance of mice was determined for varying preinjection intervals with step-down passive avoidance. Ss which received the drug immediately before the test performed normally, while performance was impaired for Ss given the test 5 or 10 min postinjection. When these Ss were retested without the drug, performance was normal. Trained mice that were given the drug showed the same drug-dependent performance as mice drugged throughout acquisition. These data may be relevant to theoretical notions about the effect of anticholinergic drugs on consolidation.