Two-way shuttlebox avoidance conditioning and brain NADH in rats

The effects of amphetamine (1.5 mg/kg) and caffeine (120 mg/kg, 75 mg/kg) on shuttle behavior and on the concentrations of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) of the brain were studied in 56 rats from the perspective of regional brain metabolism. Amphetamine potentiated the shuttle behavior including avoidance responses and response speed, while it increased NADH concentrations in the hippocampus. The low dose of caffeine increased avoidance responses. The high dose of caffeine inhibited avoidance responses, but it had no effect on NADH concentrations in discrete brain regions.