Effect of place of electroconvulsive shock and place of recovery on conditioned avoidance.

Abstract

To contrast effects of pre- and postconvulsive stimulus conditions on conditioned avoidance responses, rats were trained to avoid cutaneous shock in a shuttle box by crossing into a "safe" compartment. Possible combinations of administration of and recovery from ECS [electroconvulsive shock] in the safe compartment or in another room served as experimental treatments. All experimental groups demonstrated consistent avoidance responses. In latency of avoidance the non-ECS group differed significantly from all treatment groups. Differences within treatment groups indicated that place of ECS did not contribute to latency of avoidance, whereas allowing recovery from ECS in the test situation led to decreased latency of conditioned avoidance response.