TY - JOUR
T1 - Age differences in within-session habituation of exploratory behavior
T2 - effects of stimulus complexity
AU - Brennan, Michael J.
AU - Allen, Donald
AU - Aleman, David
AU - Azmitia, Efraim C.
AU - Quartermain, David
N1 - Funding Information:
z Now at Rockefeller University, New York, N.Y. z This research was supported by NIH Grants AG02159 (M.J.B.) and AG00760 (D.Q.). Send requests for reprints to Dr. Brennan.
PY - 1984/9
Y1 - 1984/9
N2 - The effects of age on the habituation of exploratory behavior of 8-month- and 28-month-old male C57BL/NNia mice were examined under three different stimulus complexity conditions. Increases in the degree of stimulus complexity resulted in an attenuation of between-session habituation and an initial disruption of within-session habituation by 8-month-old mice. Although increases in stimulus complexity also resulted in an increase in the overall level of exploration by aged mice, stimulus complexity was not found to have a systematic effect on between- or within-session habituation by aged mice. No between-session habituation was observed in aged mice under any of the stimulus complexity conditions. Further, aged mice exhibited significant within-session increases, rather than decreases, in exploration under each stimulus complexity condition. This disruption of within-session habituation in aged mice was found to persist over four daily test sessions. In view of the specific patterns of exploration by aged mice, the disruption of within-session habituation was attributed to age-related differences in reactivity to the arousal-inducing properties of novel stimuli.
AB - The effects of age on the habituation of exploratory behavior of 8-month- and 28-month-old male C57BL/NNia mice were examined under three different stimulus complexity conditions. Increases in the degree of stimulus complexity resulted in an attenuation of between-session habituation and an initial disruption of within-session habituation by 8-month-old mice. Although increases in stimulus complexity also resulted in an increase in the overall level of exploration by aged mice, stimulus complexity was not found to have a systematic effect on between- or within-session habituation by aged mice. No between-session habituation was observed in aged mice under any of the stimulus complexity conditions. Further, aged mice exhibited significant within-session increases, rather than decreases, in exploration under each stimulus complexity condition. This disruption of within-session habituation in aged mice was found to persist over four daily test sessions. In view of the specific patterns of exploration by aged mice, the disruption of within-session habituation was attributed to age-related differences in reactivity to the arousal-inducing properties of novel stimuli.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0163-1047(84)90436-9
DO - 10.1016/S0163-1047(84)90436-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 6508694
AN - SCOPUS:0021493074
SN - 1074-7427
VL - 42
SP - 61
EP - 72
JO - Communications in behavioral biology. Part A: [Original articles]
JF - Communications in behavioral biology. Part A: [Original articles]
IS - 1
ER -