Go/no-go discriminated avoidance learning in prenatally x-irradiated rats

Male Fischer344 rats were exposed to x-irradiation at a dose of 200 rad on Day 17 of gestation. Irradiated and control rats were tested at 10-13 weeks of age with the paradigm of go/no-go (active-passive) discriminated avoidance conditioning for three consecutive daily sessions. During the first conditioning session, they learned only active avoidance responses to two different warning signals. During the second and third sessions, they learned active and passive avoidance responses: in response to one warning signal, rats were required to make an active response to avoid a shock, but not to run in response to the other signal in order to avoid a shock. Prenatally irradiated rats made more active avoidance responses to both warning signals than controls (first session). In the early training phase of the go/no-go task, irradiated rats performed significantly higher active and lower passive avoidance responses than controls. Irradiated rats established a strong tendency to respond actively to the no-go signal, but eventually learned to respond to it.