The suppression of behaviour in rats by previous experience and electric shock and its antagonism by atropine.

Behavioural suppression was induced in rats by either previous experience alone or by a combination of previous experience and electric footshock. The effects of atropine (10 mg/kg) were compared with saline on a number of behavioural parameters suppressed by the above treatments. Atropine antagonised habituation and shock-induced suppression, which suggests that behavioural suppression however induced, may depend upon a common neuropharmacological mechanism.