| Abstract: | Eighteen male Wistar rats were given one daily two-way active avoidance conditioning session followed immediately by 5 hr of sleep recording, for 5 consecutive days. The group of rats that achieved 80% or greater avoidance in some of the 5 training sessions showed significant linear increases of paradoxical sleep (PS), compared with baseline levels, throughout the successive conditioning sessions. Furthermore, (a) the group of rats showing PS increases (more than 1 SD above baseline) after some of the training sessions achieved a significantly higher final number of avoidances than the remaining animals; (b) a high and positive correlation was observed between avoidance increases in the 3rd conditioning session and previous PS; and (c) maximum increases in correct performance often occurred following PS increases. It is concluded that PS increases facilitate the consolidation of learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
