Effects of peripherally injected pituitary peptides on recognition memory in pigeons

The effects of peripheral injection of arginine vasopressin (AVP), oxytocin (OT), arginine vasotocin (AVT), adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH4-10) and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) were studied, using pigeon subjects and a pair comparison task, with and without intervening delays between stimuli presentation. The highest dose (20 micrograms/kg) of AVT impaired performance by disrupting input, but not storage. General cognitive ability was unimpaired, as were perceptual mechanisms. None of the other peptides affected recognition memory, in that forgetting curves were unchanged when compared with control. The results are discussed in terms of species-specific roles for these peptides.