Rogers & Kesner (2003)

Method: lab experiment using rats

Aim: To determine the role of acetylcholine in the formation of spatial memories

Procedure:
- 30 rats got familiar with a Hebb Williams maze by placing food in one corner. Once the rats
were familiar with the maze - and no longer were afraid of the environment - the experiment
could begin.

- 2 conditions: The rats were either injected with scopolamine or with a saline solution ten
minutes before running the maze. Scopolamine blocks the acetylcholine receptor sites and
thus inhibits any response. The saline solution was a placebo injection. This was done to
make sure that the fact of getting an injection alone was not responsible for a change in
memory. An injection could result in an increase in adrenaline which would be a confounding
variable. The injections were made directly into the hippocampus.

- Encoding memory was assessed by the average number of errors in the first five trials of
Day #1 vs the last five trials of Day #1.

- Retrieval of memory was assessed by the average number of errors in the last five trials of
Day #1 vs the first five trials of Day #2.

Findings:
- The scopolamine group took longer and made more mistakes in the learning of the maze
(there was a higher average number of mistakes made on the last five trials on Day 1).
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- However, it did not appear to have an effect on retrieval of memories that had already been
created. It appears that acetylcholine may play an important role in the consolidation of
spatial memories.

Strength:
- The study used a rat model: allows for more precise manipulation of neurotransmitter levels
and brain regions.
- Provide evidence for the role of ACh in memory, highlighting the importance of
neurotransmitters in regulating behavior and cognitive functions.
- The study's use of drugs that manipulate ACh levels provides a powerful method for
examining the effects of neurotransmitters on behavior.

Limitations:
- The study focused on a specific type of memory task, and it is unclear whether the findings
can be generalized to other types of memory tasks or other cognitive and behavioral
functions.
- The study used a relatively small sample size of rats, which may limit the generalizability of
the results.
- The study did not examine the long-term effects of manipulating ACh levels on behavior.
- The study's use of drugs that manipulate ACh levels may not fully replicate the natural
effects of ACh on behavior.