Substance P injected into the region of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis facilitates performance of an inhibitory avoidance task.

The neuropeptide substance P (SP) was injected into the region of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM). The influence of SP on the performance of the single trial "uphill avoidance task" was tested. The post-trial injection of 1 ng SP (in 0.5 microliter volume) led to significantly longer latencies in the uphill response. This result can be interpreted in terms of a facilitating effect of SP on performance of an inhibitory avoidance response.