Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 

About: Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Discrimination learning & Reinforcement. It has an ISSN identifier of 0021-9940. Over the lifetime, 5636 publications have been published receiving 258285 citations. The journal is also known as: The journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

Memory deficits associated with senescence: a neurophysiological and behavioral study in the rat.

Abstract: Neurophysiological and behavioral measures were obtained from 32 senescent (28--34 mo) and 32 mature adult (10--16 mo) rats. Extracellularly recorded synaptic responses were obtained from electrodes chronically implanted in the fascia dentata and perforant path. The rats were first tested on a circular platform, which favored the use of spatial cues for its solution, and the senescent rats were shown to exhibit poorer memory for the rewarded place. When granule cell synaptic responses were recorded after a single session of very brief high-frequency stimulation, the amount of elevation and time course of decline were equivalent between age groups. Af ter three repetitions, however, the young rats maintained the increased synaptic strength for at least 14 days, whereas the old rats declined after the first session. The amount of synaptic enhancement was statistically correlated with the ability to perform the circular platform task both within and between groups. Furthermore, the aftereffects of the high-frequency stimulation selectively impaired the old rats' spontaneous alternation behavior on a T-maze. Certain other neurophysiological and electroencephalographic measures did not distinguish between age groups. The results are discussed in terms of the synaptic theory of memory formation and of their relevance to the aging process.

Neural basis of the spontaneous optokinetic response produced by visual inversion.

Abstract: One of the most conspicuous behavioral effects produced by surgical rotation of the eyeball through 180 degrees is the forced circling or spontaneous optokinetic reaction. Animals with inverted vision caused by eye rotation tend to turn continuously in circles (4, 6, 8). In fishes and amphibians this circling may persist indefinitely with little or no correction by reeducation. Similar circus movement is caused by contralateral transplantation of the eyeball with inversion on only one axis and also by cross-connection of the optic nerves to the wrong side of the brain (7). In all these situations movement on the part of the animal causes the visual image to pass over the retinal field or its central projection in a direction opposite to normal.