DISRUPTED RETENTION OF THE CLASSICALLY-CONDITIONED NICTITATING-MEMBRANE RESPONSE IN THE ALUMINUM-INTOXICATED RABBIT USING ELECTRICAL-STIMULATION OF THE BRAIN AS A CONDITIONED-STIMULUS

Rabbits were classically conditioned to emit an eyeblink conditioned response (CR) to electrical stimulation (ESB) of the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) paired with a corneal air puff until they attained a criterion of two consecutive days of greater than 90% CRs. They then received intraventricular injections of 1% AlC13, HCL, or normal saline. Ten days postinjection, each animal underwent a retention test consisting of 50 ESB alone presentations. Whereas all saline and HCL animals gave at least 90% CRs during retention, no aluminum rabbit emitted more than 30% CRs. Considered with the results of previous work, these data suggest that aluminum-induced neurofibrillary degeneration disrupts retention of the CR by affecting central associative processes. © 1990.