The reduction in electric footshocks perception interferes with the amnesic effect of scopolamine

In a passive avoidance paradigm, administration of scopolamine in mice seems to provoke forgetting of electric shocks they received when entering into the black compartment. We observed that, in fact, scopolamine reduced the shocks perception. Since, on the hot plate test, scopolamine did not affect latencies of avoidance reactions, this effect did not correspond to analgesia. Thus, in our experimental conditions, scopolamine effect did not exclusively result from a deficit of passive avoidance learning but likely resulted from its anti-sweating properties, thus reducing the shocks perception.