[Electrophysiological study of effects of chronic injection of caffeine on defensive reflex conditioning in grape snail]

Abstract

It was found that chronic injection of caffeine to grape snail increases a velocity of elaboration of conditioned defensive reflex. It was shown that after daily injection of caffeine immediately after procedure of learning the conditioned defensive reflex elaborated faster than daily injection before procedure of learning. It has been shown, that chronic injection of caffeine both in naive as well as learned snails led to depolarizing shift of membrane potential and to decrease of threshold potential of command neurons of the defensive behaviour of grape snails. It was also found that addition of caffeine in bath solution led to decrease of threshold of generation of action potential of command neurons both in intact and learned snails. The resting membrane potential of command neurons was not changed.