This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States of America. This is partly because patients have difficulty re-learning old skills. Enhanced skill acquisition could reduce the problem of re-learning old skills, and so reduce the rate of disability. When subjects are given a word-learning task after practicing a new skill, the amount of subsequent skill learning can be increased in normal individuals. This intervention modulates the consolidation of a new skill. Consolidation occurs following skill acquisition and is responsible for between-session skill improvements that normally occur overnight. These 'off line' improvements are usually sleep-dependent. Recently we have induced similar improvements over the day by giving subjects a word-learning task following skill acquisition. The word-learning task disrupts declarative memory of the skill, thus allowing greater procedural learning. It may be possible to achieve improvements by using scopolamine to disrupt declarative memory and so modulate procedural consolidation. This study seeks to establish whether altering cholinergic activity in the hippocampual-mediated declarative memory system can improve procedural memory, and thus clarify the role of the declarative memory system in skill-learning. This study will include 50 normal subjects aged 18 to 35. Participants will receive a dose of scopolamine or saline following skill acquisition.Their skill will then be re-tested after 12-hour interval.
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