Performance of Trained Beagles after Supralethal Doses of Radiation

Abstract

Nine beagle dogs were trained by shock avoidance conditioning to work a discrimination problem cued by visual and auditory stimuli. The animals received 5200- to 17,600-rad midline tissue doses of pulsed mixed gamma-neutron radiation, and their postirradiation performance was evaluated. During the first 60 minutes after irradiation, random, brief periods of performance decrement frequently occurred. Dogs that received less than 10,000 rads performed at or near preirradiation levels several days until they became permanently incapacitated shortly before death. After doses of 10,000 rads or more most dogs performed satisfactorily for only a few minutes to hours. Their condition then worsened precipitously and the dogs died shortly thereafter.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1972
Accession Number
AD0742075

Entities

People

  • E. L. Barron
  • R. L. Chaput
  • R. T. Kovacic

Organizations

  • Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Animal Structures
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biology
  • Education
  • Electrical Circuits
  • Health Services
  • Ionizing Radiation
  • Military Research
  • Navy
  • Nervous System
  • Nuclear Energy
  • Nuclear Medicine
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Public Health
  • Radiation
  • Radiologic Health
  • Training

Readers

  • Nuclear and Radiation Engineering.
  • Toxicology/Environmental Toxicology
  • Vision Science/Vision Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience.