An analysis of D-amphetamine produced facilitation of avoidance acquisition in rats and performance changes subsequent to drug termination

In Experiment I rats were trained on a discriminated Y-maze active avoidance task following administration of saline or one of three dosages (.75, 1.50 or 3.0 mg/kg) of d-amphetamine. The six measures recorded simultaneously during each session indicated that the avoidance facilitation produced by d-amphetamine was due to attenuation of shock-induced behavioral suppression resulting in a behavioral baseline more compatible with the animal's associating running with shock avoidance. Results from Experiment II showed that the avoidance decrement following drug termination is dependent on training dosage and whether the drug is abruptly or gradually withdrawn. This experiment further suggested that the disruption is due to dissociation between the drug and non-drug states and could be attenuated by gradually withdrawing the drug over training sessions.