Passive avoidance behavior in rats after electroconvulsive shock: Facilitative effect of response retardation.

In 3 experiments, a total of 178 male Wistar rats were trained in a one-trial passive avoidance task and then were submitted to electroconvulsive shock (ECS) or to sham ECS. 24 hrs later they were tested for retention, with the door opened either immediately or 30 sec after the beginning of the test. Ss initially forced to avoid for 30 sec continued to avoid for the entire test, but the others had the usual low step-through latencies seen with ECS-treated Ss. Activity measures for those Ss stepping through differentiated groups having received footshock from those not having footshock and ECS. A retest 5-10 min later showed "recovery" in the amnestic Ss and continued avoidance behavior for those that avoided on the first test. Results are taken as evidence that ECS effects are not on memory storage but on the capacity of the animal to organize information effectively and quickly in order to produce an adaptive response. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)