Ionizing radiation and chemical combat hazards: effects of time of exposure or combined hazards on performance in rats. Interim report, February 1980-August 1983
The effects of combat hazards (radiation, nerve agent) on the performance of a well-learned task were investigated. In three experiments, independent variables included the time of day of exposure, dose, and whether or not exposure was to combine hazards. The ability of highly trained rats to perform a shuttle avoidance task was used as a performance model. In the first experiment, exposure to gamma radiation (1000 rads) occurred at one of six regularly spaced times of day, then, performance was tested for six times a day for two days thereafter. Striking circadian variation was seen in both general activity and shuttle performance. The time at which radiation exposure occurred did not affect average performance. However, different times of exposure were associated with different survival times. In the second experiment, the nerve agent soman (35 or 55 micrograms/kg) was injected at either 0830 or 2030. No effect of time of injection was found for the 35 micrograms/kg dose. The overall effect of soman in those animals able to perform the task was decreased latency to respond to the warning signal, an apparent facilitation of performance. In the third experiment, rats were exposed to both radiation and soman at doses that were behaviorally sign-free in the first two experiments to determine if the two hazards would combine to produce an effect.
- Research Organization:
- Systems Research Labs., Inc., Dayton, OH (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6847102
- Report Number(s):
- AD-A-173973/9/XAB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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