The long-range intention is to determine principles that govern retention and forgetting in the developing rat. Particular attention is given to age-specific peculiarities in stimulus selection during learning and memory of the events of infancy. The experiments proposed address two general distinctions among theories to explain infantile amnesia. One set of theories emphasizes subsequent growth of several kinds, including the kind responsible for age-specific differences in what is stored in memory. The other set is split on the issue of the permanency of infantile amnesia; some theories expect ready alleviation of the amnesia, but others assume that alleviation is impossible without drastic physiological intervention. Most of the proposed experiments address the former issue--the effect of ontogenetic change in stimulus selection on learning and memory--but the latter also is addressed. The central thesis is that ontogenetically determined dispositions provide constraints on the developing rat as to what stimuli are """"""""selected"""""""" for memory storage, with the impact of these constraints differing in accord with other environmental or physiological circumstances. Sets of experiments will focus on four specific aims: (1) To assess ontogenetic differences in the integration of temporally disparate events, toward understanding of how stimulus selection is determined by the temporal distribution of potentially organizable but physically separate events; (2) To assess ontogenetic differences in how stimulus selection may be altered by the use of strong, biologically significant stimuli as unconditioned stimuli or reinforcers; (3) To determine the effects of arousal, differentiation among sensory modalities and stimulus factors on the ontogeny of stimulus selection; and (4) To assess the influence of stimulus selection on infantile amnesia and the alleviation of infantile amnesia.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH035219-10
Application #
3375646
Study Section
Psychobiology and Behavior Research Review Committee (BBP)
Project Start
1980-09-29
Project End
1990-08-31
Budget Start
1989-09-01
Budget End
1990-08-31
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
1989
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
State University of NY, Binghamton
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
090189965
City
Binghamton
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
13902
Cullere, Marcela; Macchione, Ana Fabiola; Haymal, Beatriz et al. (2015) Neonatal sensitization to ethanol-induced breathing disruptions as a function of late prenatal exposure to the drug in the rat: modulatory effects of ethanol's chemosensory cues. Physiol Behav 139:412-22
Culleré, Marcela Elena; Spear, Norman E; Molina, Juan Carlos (2014) Prenatal ethanol increases sucrose reinforcement, an effect strengthened by postnatal association of ethanol and sucrose. Alcohol 48:25-33
Miranda-Morales, Roberto Sebastián; Nizhnikov, Michael E; Spear, Norman E (2014) Prenatal exposure to ethanol during late gestation facilitates operant self-administration of the drug in 5-day-old rats. Alcohol 48:19-23
March, Samanta M; Abate, Paula; Spear, Norman E et al. (2013) The role of acetaldehyde in ethanol reinforcement assessed by Pavlovian conditioning in newborn rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 226:491-9
Revillo, D A; Arias, C; Spear, N E (2013) The unconditioned stimulus pre-exposure effect in preweanling rats in taste aversion learning: role of the training context and injection cues. Dev Psychobiol 55:193-204
March, Samanta M; Pautassi, Ricardo M; Nizhnikov, Michael et al. (2013) Olfactory preference for ethanol following social interaction with an intoxicated peer in adolescent rats exposed to ethanol in-utero. Psicothema 25:355-62
Miranda-Morales, Roberto Sebastián; Nizhnikov, Michael E; Waters, Dustin H et al. (2013) Participation of the nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptor in ethanol-mediated locomotor activation and ethanol intake in preweanling rats. Behav Brain Res 245:137-44
Miranda-Morales, Roberto Sebastián; Spear, Norman E; Nizhnikov, Michael E et al. (2012) Role of mu, delta and kappa opioid receptors in ethanol-reinforced operant responding in infant rats. Behav Brain Res 234:267-77
Miranda-Morales, Roberto Sebastián; Molina, Juan Carlos; Spear, Norman E et al. (2012) Naloxone attenuation of ethanol-reinforced operant responding in infant rats in a re-exposure paradigm. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 219:235-46
Ponce, Luciano F; Pautassi, Ricardo Marcos; Spear, Norman E et al. (2011) Maternal care alterations induced by repeated ethanol leads to heightened consumption of the drug and motor impairment during adolescence: a dose-response analysis. Physiol Behav 103:477-86

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