The effect of chronic vs. acute injection of vasopressin on animal learning and memory

The effect of chronic and acute treatment with DDAVP, a vasopressin analog, was studied in 2 month old male rats, using an active avoidance test in a shuttle box. The experiment lasted 6 weeks: an acquisition period of 4 weeks and an extinction period of 2 weeks. Rats were treated one hour before behavioral testing 3 times a week for 6 weeks with either DDAVP 20 micrograms/rat/day for the whole period (chronic group) or with DDAVP for the first week and again once only on the first day of the extinction period (acute group) or with saline. Chronic treatment with DDAVP resulted in better acquisition and in a marked retardation of extinction compared with the acute treatment group. These results were obtained both in normal rats and in rats pretreated at age 5 days of life with intracisternal 6-OH dopamine.