TABLE 1. Schedule for drug challenge study.
Schedules such as this were used to determine the effects of nicotine and mecamylamine (individual animals were at different points in the task rotation upon initiation of the drug challenges). Animals completed one of three memory tasks (vsPAL, DMS, SOSS), and either PR or RT on alternating days. The BMS task was completed at the end of each session. Thus the behavioral schedule repeated every 3 weeks. Drug challenges were performed Tue and Fri in an ascending-descending order for each memory task combination. Only the ascending schedule is outlined here for nicotine however for mecamylamine Doses 4–6 reflect the three doses in descending order. DMS, Delayed Match to Sample; RT, Reaction Time; BMS, Bimanual Motor Skill; vsPAL, visuo-spatial Paired Associates Learning; SOSS, Self-Ordered Spatial Search.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | DMS/RT/BMS
Baseline |
vsPAL/RT/BMS
Dose 1 |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Baseline |
DMS/RT/BMS
Vehicle |
PR/vsPAL/BMS
Dose 2 |
| Week 2 | PR/SOSS/BMS
Baseline |
DMS/RT/BMS
Dose 1 |
vsPAL/RT/BMS
Baseline |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Vehicle |
DMS/RT/BMS
Dose 2 |
| Week 3 | PR/vsPAL/BMS
Baseline |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Dose 1 |
DMS/RT/BMS
Baseline |
vsPAL/RT/BMS
Vehicle |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Dose 2 |
| Week 4 | DMS/RT/BMS
Baseline |
vsPAL/RT/BMS
Dose 3 |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Baseline |
DMS/RT/BMS
Vehicle |
PR/vsPAL/BMS
Dose 4 |
| Week 5 | PR/SOSS/BMS
Baseline |
DMS/RT/BMS
Dose 3 |
PR/ vsPAL/BMS
Baseline |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Vehicle |
DMS/RT/BMS
Dose 4 |
| Week 6 | vsPAL/RT/BMS
Baseline |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Dose 3 |
DMS/RT/BMS
Baseline |
PR/vsPAL/BMS
Vehicle |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Dose 4 |
| Week 7 | DMS/RT/BMS
Baseline |
vsPAL/RT/BMS
Dose 5 |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Baseline |
DMS/RT/BMS
Vehicle |
PR/vsPAL/BMS
Dose 6 |
| Week 8 | PR/SOSS/BMS
Baseline |
DMS/RT/BMS
Dose 5 |
PR/ vsPAL/BMS
Baseline |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Vehicle |
DMS/RT/BMS
Dose 6 |
| Week 9 | vsPAL/RT/BMS
Baseline |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Dose 5 |
DMS/RT/BMS
Baseline |
PR/vsPAL/BMS
Vehicle |
PR/SOSS/BMS
Dose 6 |