Topic: association errors

The ability to combine simpler aspects of experiences into higher order knowledge or memory structures is a key mental ability. This ability is impaired in psychosis, which may be related to delusional symptoms. We studied how psychotomimetic dose of dizocilpine affects coordination between spatial and temporal aspects of learned behavioral sequences in rats. On a four-arm plus maze rats learned to visit in an ordered sequence three rewarded arms interleaved by repeated visits to the start arm. Behavior was assessed in 14 rats under three doses of dizocilpine (0.05 mg/kg, 0.1 mg/kg, and 0.125