YOG: 1999

Key Words: Compensatory Startle Response, Nicotine, Acoutic Startle, Drug Discrimination, Rats, Animal Research

Instrument: SR-Pilot Acoustic Startle Chamber, San Diego Instruments, Inc.
Abstract: The design for this experiment was a within-subjects design. Each rat was tested individually in a startle chamber. On varying days, one group of three rats received nicotine under a context of a black covering for the chamber while the other three were given saline. On other days, the context was switched to a white covering and the rats who previously received nicotine were given saline and vice versa. This continued in a random fashion for 14 days. On four test days, rats received nicotine in the context that they usually receive saline as well as the original context. Only a difference in response between nicotine and saline was recorded. No conditioning effect was observed.

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