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. 1969 Aug;63(4):1094–1101. doi: 10.1073/pnas.63.4.1094

KINETICS OF MEMORY CONSOLIDATION: ROLE OF AMNESIC TREATMENT PARAMETERS

Arthur Cherkin 1,2
PMCID: PMC223433  PMID: 5261913

Abstract

The consolidation theory states that with the passage of time the engram of a recent learning experience grows increasingly resistant to disruption by amnesic treatment. The time required to reach complete resistance (“consolidation time”) is a controversial issue; current estimates range from 101 to 105 seconds. The present study suggests a parsimonious interpretation of the divergence, namely, that weak amnesic treatments fail to block memory consolidation but do slow its rate, so that post-treatment consolidation inflates the retention scores measured 24 hours later and leads to variably shortened “consolidation times.”

This study utilized 2880 neonate chicks trained in a one-trial avoidance paradigm. Retrograde amnesia was induced by treatment with flurothyl (CF3CH2-OCH2CF3) vapor. Apparent “consolidation times” determined by conventional data analysis varied widely as a function of flurothyl concentration and exposure time, ranging from 4 minutes under weak amnesic conditions (0.85% flurothyl; 1-min exposure) to 24 hours under strong conditions (1.7% flurothyl; 8-min exposure). With 1.7% flurothyl, the consolidation half-time was found to be 9.8 hours.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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