Latent Inhibition
Latent Inhibition: This test is conducted in the same apparatus as conditioned fear. Animals pre-exposed to a tone without foot shock exhibit less freezing after receiving tone-shock pairings than animals given only tone-shock pairings. The pre-exposure interferes with (inhibits) conditioning. When tested by presentation of the tone, tone-shock trained animals show high levels of freezing behavior whereas pre-exposed animals do not. The difference in freezing between these two groups is an index of the degree of latent inhibition. Latent inhibition is impaired in animal models of schizophrenia and autism and in humans with these disorders.
