Effects of artificial rewarming upon hypothermia-induced retrograde amnesia

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted to examine the relationship between recovery rate from deep body cooling and later memory loss. In each of these three investigations, a passive avoidance trial was followed immediately by hypothermia and recovery was manipulated by exposing rats to warm water. In Experiment I, rats returned to near normothermic levels by immersion in 36.4°C water for 20 min following the training-hypothermia treatment showed good retention, while rats allowed to recover under room temperature conditions showed the typical RA. Results from Experiment II indicated that extent of amnesia was inversely related to the duration of immersion in warm water following training-hypothermia treatment. In Experiment III. the prevention of RA by rewarming was shown to follow a time-dependent course. Initiation of rewarming 0, 5, or 10 min after hypothermia treatment eliminated RA, but the same rewarming given 30 min after treatment had no protective effect. The implications of these findings for consolidation and retrieval models of RA were considered. © 1976, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.