HALOTHANE ANESTHESIA AND DMS PERFORMANCE IN RATS - MEMORY IMPAIRMENT OR AVOIDANCE-BEHAVIOR

Halothane anaesthesia administered after the presentation of a stimulus to be memorized for a short time leads to an impairment of performance in a delayed matching to sample (DMS) task. Such an effect, which would be classically interpreted as a memory disruption, is here re-evaluated. Our data show: (1) That the animals tend to systematically avoid the stimulus associated with the halothane treatment; (2) That they are still able to remember the stimulus presented just before treatment. These results suggest an aversive rather than amnesic effect of the halothane anaesthesia. © 1979.