The Effect of Decaborane Injection on Macaca Mulatta and Macaca Irus Operant Behavior

摘要

Ten adult monkeys, eight on negatively reinforced (low level shock) tasks and two on positively reinforced (food reward) tasks, were injected with either 2 mg, 4 mg, or 1 mg followed by 2 mg decaborane per kg body weight, and their performance on various operant tasks was compared with baseline performance. All animals exhibited a performance decrement on at least one task, with 75% of the subjects exhibiting a decrement on the remaining tasks. In over half the cases performance changes preceded clinical symptoms. There was no significant difference between the 2 mg and 4 mg exposures when a subject showed a decrement on negatively reinforced tasks. However, those subjects that received 1 mg followed the next day by 2 mg (positively reinforced animals) did not noticeably improve or return to baseline for a much longer period than the 2 mg and 4 mg groups (negatively reinforced). (Author)