Effects of Diazepam and Midazolam on Visual Discrimination in White Carneaux Pigeons

Studies examining the effect of diazepam (Valium) on avoidance learning and learning of a task have indicated that diazepam can disrupt memory processes (Brown, Woodard, & Rich, 1994; McNamara & Skelton, 1991) . The present study examined the effects of diazepam and midazolam on retention of visual discrimination learning in 18 White Carneaux pigeons. After birds were trained on a visual discrimination task, they received either 1 mg/kg of diazepam or midazolam (treatment groups) or saline (control group). Twenty-four hr after injection, memory for the visual discrimination was tested. Performance rates on the test day were compared using analysis of variance. The predictions that pigeons injected with midazolam would show the strongest memory decrement and that pigeons injected with diazepam would have slightly less decrement compared to pigeons injected with saline were not supported