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Science 22 October 1976:
Vol. 194. no. 4263, pp. 438 - 440
DOI: 10.1126/science.988635
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Articles

Science, Vol 194, Issue 4263, 438-440
Copyright © 1976 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

The amnesia gradient: inadequate as evidence for a memory consolidation process

TL DeVietti and BR Kirkpatrick

Rats were conditioned to fear a tone paired with shock to the feet. Retention tests 4 days later showed that consolidation had occurred. Other animals were not tested for retention at 4 days, but the tone was presented in order to reactivate their memories of the conditioning. An amnesia gradient was generated by low-intensity electrical stimulation of the amygdaloid complex at different intervals after the tone, but stimulation was without effect either when given to rats not previously conditioned or when given to conditioned rats without preceding memory reactivation. Thus, stimulation of the amygdaloid complex can can affect memory retrieval. Moreover, the data call into question the assumption that an amnesia gradient indicates that the memory consolidation process has been modified.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Behavioral impairments caused by injections of the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin after contextual retrieval reverse with time.
K. M. Lattal and T. Abel (2004)
PNAS 101, 4667-4672
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