Related Experiment Videos
Dopaminergic and cholinergic antagonism in a novel-object detection task with rats
J Besheer1, K R Short, R A Bevins
1Department of Psychology, Burnett Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0308, USA.
Abstract:
In a free-choice test, rats display a tendency to interact more with a novel object than a familiar object. In the present report, we assessed the role of the dopaminergic and cholinergic systems in the expression of this novelty detection. Rats were injected with a dopaminergic antagonist (sulpiride, U-99194A, clozapine, or L-745,870) or a cholinergic antagonist (mecamylamine or scopolamine) prior to the free-choice novel-object test. The dopamine antagonists did not block novel-object detection. In contrast, scopolamine, but not mecamylamine, reliably blocked the expression of novelty detection, indicating a role for muscarinic receptors.