Effect of diazepam on acquisition, retention, and some performance variables in the Morris water maze
Date
1990
Authors
McNamara, Robert Keith
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Abstract
Diazepam is known to produce anterograde amnesia in both humans and animals. The present investigation sought to determine if this impairment is a direct result of diazepam's interference with mnemonic processes or a result of deficits in performance or retrieval. Diazepam (3 mg/kg) was administered prior to training in the Morris water maze either before or after the rats had learned the location of a submerged escape platform. Diazepam was found to impair acquisition but not retrieval of spatial information. This impairment was not due to the sedative, hypothermic or state-dependent learning effects of diazepam. In addition, there was no evidence of tolerance to the amnesic effects of diazepam over the 27 days of testing. These results replicate previous findings in the Morris water maze and provide new evidence that the deficit is primarily mnemonic in nature. Possible neural and electrophysiological substrates, the role of endogenous benzodiazepines, and the strategies used by diazepam-treated rats are discussed.