l-DOPA improves odor discrimination learning in rats

Using a forced-choice odor discrimination task in rats, we show here that intraperitoneal injections of l-DOPA improve rats' odor discrimination performance in comparison to control rats injected with saline. Although the exact mechanism of l-DOPA and potential action on dopamine receptors remains unclear, the present results indicate that rats injected with the 20-50 mg/kg of l-DOPA performed significantly better in an odor discrimination task than did control rats. In addition, we observed a significant correlation between the concentration of l-DOPA and odor discrimination performance.