EFFECTS OF REPRESENTATIVE ANTICHOLINERGIC AND ANTICHOLINESTERASE DRUGS ON HUMAN LEARNING AND RETENTION.

Abstract

The effects of an anticholinergic drug (scopolamine) and an anticholinesterase drug (physostigmine upon human learning and retention were investigated. Six groups of 10 subjects each were randomly assigned to six different drug-dose conditions--a saline placebo, two different doses of scopolamine, and three different doses of physostigmine. The data were collected over a series of ten 2-day experimental sequences, each composed of a familiarization phase, an acquisition phase, and a retention phase. Within each phase, the subjects performed three experimental tasks--pursuit rotor tracking, verbal learning of three-letter words, and memory-for-faces. Analyses of variance of the data from the acquisition and retention phases indicated that there were no significant differences in performance on any of the three experimental tasks among the six-drug-dose conditions. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1966
Accession Number
AD0637873

Entities

People

  • Harlan L. Linsley

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Learning
  • Pharmacologic Actions
  • Pharmacological Mechanisms Of Action
  • Sequences

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Neurotoxicology
  • Toxicology/Environmental Toxicology