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Science 19 May 1967:
Vol. 156. no. 3777, pp. 973 - 974
DOI: 10.1126/science.156.3777.973
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Articles

Retrograde Amnesia Produced by Intraperitoneal Injection of Physostigmine

Martin D. Hamburg 1

1 Brain Research Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Intraperitoneal injection of physostigmine in rats produced a retrograde amnesia of a trained task of escaping shock. This amnesic effect was a U-shaped function of the length of the interval between initial training and injection. In all cases, retraining Occurred 30 minutes after injection. A substantial effect was produced by physostigmine if its application was made 30 minutes after training; there was no effect if application and tests were made 1, 2, or 3 days after the original training. When the substance was injected and the rats were retrained 5, 7, or 14 days after the original training, a substantial effect again appeared. These results are similar to those reported in experiments in which another anticholinesterase, diisopropyl fluorophosphate, was applied intracerebrally. The data demonstrate a similar pattern of change of the amnesia with time, and they substantiate the view that neither the place of application nor the brain lesions caused the reported amnesia.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Cholinomimetics and Memory: The Effect of Choline Chloride.
K. L. Davis, R. C. Mohs, J. R. Tinklenberg, L. E. Hollister, A. Pfefferbaum, and B. S. Kopell (1980)
Arch Neurol 37, 49-52
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Human Memory and the Cholinergic System: A Relationship to Aging?.
D. A. Drachman and J. Leavitt (1974)
Arch Neurol 30, 113-121
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Cholinergic Synapse and the Site of Memory.
J. A. Deutsch (1971)
Science 174, 788-794
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