Rats can discriminate illuminance, but not magnetic fields, as a stimulus for learning a two-choice discrimination

October 1, 2002

Journal Article

Rats can discriminate illuminance, but not magnetic fields, as a stimulus for learning a two-choice discrimination

Abstract

In each of the 2 experiments, 9 rats were trained for 64 trials (8 trials per day) to determine if they could acquire a 2-choice discrimination based on a specific discriminative stimulus (SD). In one experiment, the SD was a change in ambient illumination, while in the second experiment the SD was a change in the combination of sinusoidal 60 Hz and static magnetic field (MF) and any cues attendant to energizing the coils that produced the MF exposure. The rats that had a change in illuminance as the SD learned the 2-choice task easily, P<.001 whereas="" the="" rats="" having="" a="" change="" in="" mfs="" as="" sd="" did="" not.="" bioelectromagnetics="">

Revised: September 26, 2003 | Published: October 1, 2002

Citation

Creim J.A., R.H. Lovely, D.L. Miller, and L.E. Anderson. 2002. Rats can discriminate illuminance, but not magnetic fields, as a stimulus for learning a two-choice discrimination. Bioelectromagnetics 23, no. 7:545-549. PNNL-SA-37948.