Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol impairs visual recognition memory but not discrimination learning in rhesus monkeys
✍ Scribed by T. G. Aigner
- Publisher
- Springer
- Year
- 1988
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 434 KB
- Volume
- 95
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0033-3158
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✦ Synopsis
The effects of orally administered delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were evaluated on two different learning abilities in monkeys. Visual recognition memory, known to depend on limbic system integrity, was tested by means of delayed noumatching-to-sample and found to be significantly impaired by acute administration of 2 and 4 mg/kg THC given 1 or 2 h prior to testing. Performance was significantly impaired throughout a 21-day period of repeated administration of 4 mg/kg THC and also during a 3-5 day period that began %10 days after the last dose of THC. By contrast, 24-h concurrent discrimination learning, a task that monkeys with limbic lesions can perform normally, was not impaired by THC, even following doses as high as 16 mg/kg. These results suggest that THC interferes with recognition memory more than discrimination learning, possibly reflecting a selective action of THC on limbic mechanisms.