Effect of caffeine administration on latent learning ability of male rats in a simple maze task

Animals can acquire information about the environment in the absence of conventional rewards. This latent or incidental learning depends on their interaction with the environment. The present report examines whether caffeine (120 mumol/kg) could enhance latent learning of a simple maze task by increasing exploratory activity of rats in the maze. Though caffeine increased the activity of rats in the maze under a nonappetitive condition, methylxanthine did not improve performance in rats tested under an appetitive condition in the maze. These results suggest that caffeine (120 mumol/kg) does not facilitate latent learning of a simple maze task. An interesting and unexpected finding of the present study was that caffeine caused greater stimulation of exploratory activity in the open-field than in the maze under nonappetitive conditions. This may be due to differences in the complexity of the two paradigms.