Neurotransmission study: Antonova

Question 1

What is the aim of this study?

Answer 1

To see if scopolamine affects hipocampal activity, in creation of spatial memories

Question 2

What was the procedure of this study?

Answer 2

• 20 healthy male students
• Double blind procedure
• 2 conditions: Placebo injection, Scopolamine injection
• Participants put into fMRI whilst playing a game ‘Arena task’
• Participants had to ‘navigate around a pole’ in the game
• Once the participants were familiar with the game the screen goes blank
• The participants had to use their memory to work out how to navigate around the pole
• Participants had to return 3-4 weeks later to redo the test receiving the opposite injection to what they originally received

Question 3

What were the findings of this study?

Answer 3

When injected with Scopolamine there was a significant reduction in the activation of the hippocampus compared to the Placebo injection

Question 4

What were the conclusions from this study?

Answer 4

Acetylycholine could play a key role in encoding spatial memories