Effects of Hibernation on Learning and Retention

Abstract

IN a vast literature on learning and retention there are, surprisingly, no data concerning effects of experimentally controlled hibernation. In contrast, experiments to investigate the effects of hypothermia are increasing. Andjus et al.¹ have shown that retention is unimpaired after hypothermia even in animals cooled to near 0° C. On the other hand, initial learning, investigated after recovery from hypothermia, has been most frequently found to be significantly impaired in subjects whose body temperature has been lowered to 0°–5° C, but unaffected in subjects cooled to 13°–32° C¹. In general, the longer the time between recovering from hypothermia and the beginning of learning, the smaller was the impairment observed (paper presented by N. Mrosovsky to the third International Symposium on Natural Mammalian Hibernation in Toronto in 1965).