N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation is believed necessary for certain types of learning. The present experiments investigated the effects of the NMDA antagonist, MK-801, on spatial learning and memory in rats. Experiment 1 tested the effects of MK-801 on the acquisition and retention of a water maze task. MK-801 produced a performance, but not a spatial learning deficit. Experiment 2 tested the effects of MK-801 on the acquisition and retention of a radial arm maze task (RAM). MK-801 had no effect on initial acquisition and retention, but impaired subsequent reversal learning when the pattern of rewarded and unrewarded arms was reversed. Experiment 3 investigated the effects of MK-801 on RAM reversal learning in rats previously trained on the initial task in the absence of drugs. MK-801 produced a dose dependent impairment on reversal learning. These results are consistent with one interpretation that MK-801 impairs the ability to suppress interference from previously learned information.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.69672 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | White, Lynn H. |
| Contributors | Shapiro, Matthew (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001383352, proquestno: AAIMM91769, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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