Ether-induced retrograde amnesia for one-trial conditioning in mice.

Mice were tested in a situation permitting them to step readily from a small, restrictive platform to a larger one. Conditioned avoidance was established by a single training trial when animals received a shock by stepping from one platform to another. At various intervals after the single punishing shock, subjects were anesthetized with diethyl ether. Interference with retention, tested 1 day later, was shown for intervals up to 24 minutes, at which time ether no longer appeared to influence the subsequent response.