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Impairment of conditioned active avoidance in adult rats given corticosterone in infancy
Author(s) -
Olton David S.,
Johnson Craig T.,
Howard Evelyn
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420080108
Subject(s) - corticosterone , cerebrum , avoidance response , psychology , endocrinology , medicine , cerebellum , avoidance learning , litter , developmental psychology , neuroscience , central nervous system , biology , hormone , agronomy
Intensive corticosterone treatment given to rats during the 1st postnatal week irreversibly decreases DNA accumulation in the cerebrum and cerebellum. After such hypercorticism in infancy rats were tested as adults in 2 conditioned active avoidance tasks. In comparison with litter‐mate controls, the treated rats were impaired in the acquisition of 2‐way active avoidance but not in the acquisition of 1‐way active avoidance. These data are consistent with other observations suggesting a hyperresponsiveness or hyperemotionality following corticosterone treatment in infancy.