Abstract
The effects of an indirect dopamine-agonist, d-amphetamine, and a non-selective dopamine receptor antagonist, haioperidol, were investigated in normal male volunteers using a between-subjects double-blind design in a procedural learning task, thought mainly to involve unconscious/automatic learning. The results showed: (1) d-amphetamine facilitated response speed, whereas haioperidol inhibited it, in comparison to placebo; (2) the linear increase in procedural learning corresponded with pharmacological manipulation of degree of dopaminergic activity, i.e. subjects given haioperidol showed the least, and subjects given d-amphetamine the greatest, procedural learning. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to investigation of abnormalities of procedural learning processes in schizophrenia.
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Kumari, V., Gray, J.A., Corr, P.J. et al. Effects of acute administration of d-amphetamine and haloperidol on procedural learning in man. Psychopharmacology 129, 271–276 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002130050190
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002130050190