Mechanism of action of scopolamine as an amnestic

Impulsivity as a confounding factor in certain animal tests of cognitive function

Performance in cognitive tasks which require the subject to wait and/or to process a large amount of information can be disrupted by an increase in impulsive-like behaviour. Accordingly, a decrease in impulsive-like behaviour can improve performance in such tasks. Conversely, impulsive-like behaviour may improve performance in cognitive tasks where simple and fast responses and/or only little information processing is required. Thus, impulsivity constitutes a confounding factor in studies of cognitive function. Impulsive-like behaviour may be modified by serotonergic (5-HT) activity, with underactivity in 5-HT neurotransmission increasing impulsivity and vice versa. Drug- or lesion-induced alteration in 5-HT neurotransmission may, therefore, constitute suitable tools to investigate the role of impulsivity in animal tests of cognitive function. Benzodiazepines also increase impulsive-like behaviour, possibly by decreasing 5-HT neurotransmission. Hence, the effects of modulation of 5-HT systems and of the benzodiazepine-binding site on performance in animals tests of cognitive function will be discussed. It is predicted that the effects of manipulations of serotonergic activity or of benzodiazepine administration depend upon the nature of the response required, and that these effects may be mediated through changes in impulse control.

Effects of scopolamine on learning and memory in monkeys

The effects of scopolamine were evaluated in monkeys responding under operant procedures designed to evaluate drug effects on learning and memory. In one procedure, responding was maintained by food presentation under a multiple schedule. One component of the multiple schedule was a repeated-acquisition task in which the discriminative stimuli for left- and right-key responses changed each session (learning). In the other component, the discriminative stimuli for responses were the same each session (performance). In both components of the multiple schedule, scopolamine produced dose-related decreases in responding; there was little evidence of differential rate-decreasing effects between components. Percent errors in learning were increased in a dose-related manner, whereas percent errors in performance were generally unaffected except at high doses, which also produced substantial decreases in response rate. These results suggest that acquisition is more sensitive to the disruptive effects of scopolamine than is performance. The second procedure utilized repeated acquisition and delayed performance as a technique to study the effects of scopolamine on memory. In this procedure, each session was divided into three phases: acquisition, delay and performance. After a 24-h delay, scopolamine had little or no effect on retention, accuracy or rate of responding. In contrast, after a 60-min delay, scopolamine decreased retention in a dose-related manner. These data suggest that scopolamine produces a greater disruptive effect on short (60-min) versus long (24-h) delays.

Tetramethylpyrazine improves spatial cognitive impairment induced by permanent occlusion of bilateral common carotid arteries or scopolamine in rats

Effects of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP), a major constituent of Ligusticum chuanxiong, on spatial cognitive impairment induced by permanent occlusion of bilateral common carotid arteries (2VO) and scopolamine were investigated using 8-arm radial maze performance in rats. Permanent 2VO produced a severe learning deficit in non-pretrained rats. Daily administration of TMP (3-10 mg/kg, i.p.) from the 3rd day after permanent 2VO significantly improved the learning deficit. TMP did not influence the impairment of the retention task in the pretrained permanent 2VO rats, but it tended to reduce the number of errors elevated by 3-min delay interposition in these rats. In the scopolamine model, scopolamine (0.3 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly decreased the initial correct response and increased the number of errors. Single administration of TMP (1-3 mg/kg, i.p.) dose-dependently reversed the scopolamine-induced impairment of the maze performance. These results suggest that TMP has therapeutic potential for the treatment of dementia caused by cholinergic dysfunction and/or decrease of cerebral blood flow.

Opposite effects of cholinergic agents and benzodiazepine receptor ligands in a passive avoidance task in rats

Benzodiazepine (Bzd) agonist, diazepam (Dzp) and inverse agonist methyl beta-carboline-3-carboxylate (beta-CCM); acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, physostigmine (Physo) and muscarinic antagonist, scopolamine (Scopo), were investigated for their mnesic effect in a passive avoidance (PA) task in rats. Impairments were observed after Dzp- and/or Scopo-pretraining treatments. Physo was without effect but antagonized the Dzp-induced impairments. beta-CCM enhanced acquisition and antagonized the Scopo-induced impairing effect. All these drugs had no effect in posttraining administration.

The effects of physostigmine and scopolamine on memory for food caches in the black-capped chickadee

The possible effects of anticholinesterases on the central nervous system and, in particular, on learning and memory, have generated considerable interest. Food caching in the black-capped chickadee is an excellent natural paradigm of spatial working memory. Its susceptibility to cholinergically active drugs was explored in the present study. Our ultimate objective was to use food caching as a natural paradigm for the study of the consequences in birds of sublethal exposure to anticholinesterase insecticides. Biochemical analyses showed that administration of the anticholinesterase physostigmine (eserine) led to a short-lived effect, with recovery of brain cholinesterase levels already underway 5 min after an intramuscular injection. Birds administered the anticholinergic scopolamine before caching demonstrated significantly impaired recall compared to birds given physostigmine. Birds given saline only had an intermediate performance. Giving the drugs between caching and recovery had no measurable effect. These findings suggest that effects of cholinergic agents on cache recovery in chickadees are comparable to their effects in tests of working memory in mammals.

Progressive cognitive impairment following chronic cerebral hypoperfusion induced by permanent occlusion of bilateral carotid arteries in rats

The effects of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion induced by permanent occlusion of bilateral common carotid arteries (2VO) on learning and memory performance were examined in rats using an eight-arm radial maze task. The learning of the task was severely impaired in the permanent 2VO rats that had not been pretrained, while the retention was slightly impaired and soon recovered in the permanent 2VO rats that had been fully pretrained when tested within 1 month after the 2VO operation. The performance, however, was impaired in the pretrained rats when a 3-min delay was interposed between the fourth and fifth choices. Moreover, when retrained in the radial maze 4 months after the permanent 2VO, these same rats showed a performance impairment. Some loss of the hippocampal pyramidal neurons was observed 1 month after the permanent 2VO, although the decrease was not significant. However, significant loss of the cells was observed in the hippocampus CA1 subfield 4 months after the operation. We concluded that: (1) In the early stage (1 month after permanent 2VO), a learning deficit was observed in the non-pretrained rats. In the pretrained rats, working memory was not impaired, whereas longer term memory was compromised; (2) in the late stage (4 months after permanent 2VO), working memory may have also been impaired in the pretrained rats; and (3) this progressive cognitive deficit seemed to parallel the progress of neuronal damage.

The metabolic brain pattern of young subjects given scopolamine

The effect of an intravenous dose of 0.5 mg of scopolamine on the functional brain activity of normal subjects performing auditory discrimination (CPT) was determined in two independent positron emission tomography studies with [18F] 2-fluoro-deoxyglucose. In the first preliminary study, the most significant effect found was a reduction in the functional activity of the thalamus. In the second "hypothesis-testing" study, an equally prominent effect on thalamic functional activity was seen. Because the second study was performed on a high-resolution scanner with improved methodology, we re-examined scopolamine's effects on those brain regions established as determinants of CPT. Of the regions affected, the reduction in cingulate and the increase in basal ganglia metabolic rates were the most notable. We concluded that scopolamine's effects on the functions of thalamic, cingulate and basal ganglia are the likely causes of scopolamine's well-described attention-altering properties. Alterations in these same brain structures could be responsible for scopolamine's effects on other cognitive functions, e.g., memory. Alternatively, scopolamine's effects on other brain structures such as the hippocampus and frontal cortex could underlie scopolamine's effects on these other cognitive functions. Studies of scopolamine's regional metabolic effects in subjects performing these other cognitive tasks at more than a single dose and at more than one post-drug time are needed to discriminate between these two possibilities.

Aniracetam improves behavioural responses and facilitates signal transduction in the rat brain

The effect of aniracetam (10, 50, 100 mg/kg i.p. daily for 15 days) on both behavioural and biochemical parameters was investigated in the adult rat. Animals given aniracetam (50 mg/kg 1 h before the trial) showed a significant increase in the percentage of conditioned active avoidance responses and a reduction of latency times. Aniracetam significantly counteracted the scopolamine-induced memory failure at the passive avoidance (step down) test, while it did not modify the locomotion of the animals. In purified frontocortical and hippocampal synaptic membranes of rats treated with aniracetam (50 mg/kg i.p. daily for 15 days) a potentiation of basal, carbamylcholine-, dopamine- and norepinephrine-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity was observed, while forskolin-stimulated enzyme activity was not modified. With regard to inositol phosphate production measured in fronto-cortical synaptoneurosomes, aniracetam potentiated the stimulation by angiotensin II, while the stimulation by carbamylcholine, not affected by 10 and 50 mg/kg aniracetam, was notably, although not significantly, decreased by 100 mg/kg aniracetam. Furthermore, in synaptosomes derived from hippocampus, aniracetam (50 mg/kg i.p. daily for 15 days) caused an increase of both basal and K(+)-stimulated intrasynaptosomal Ca(2+) concentration. In conclusion, a correlation between the improvement of behavioural performance and the modulation of transducing systems by aniracetam seems to take place in brain areas, such as frontal cortex and hippocampus, known to play a major role in the control of cognitive functions.

Negative and positive effects of intracerebroventricular scopolamine on memory in mice undergoing passive avoidance and escape tests

The effects of intracerebroventricular administration of scopolamine on memory and learning in the conscious, freely moving mouse were evaluated using step-down passive avoidance and water maze tests. A new technique was used that allows convenient injection into the cerebral ventricles without disturbing the animal's behavior. No significant changes in locomotor activity were observed after low doses of scopolamine (0.1 and 1.0 microgram). However, 10 micrograms produced an increase in locomotor activity, while 100 micrograms caused an initial decrease followed by an increase in activity. In the passive avoidance test, scopolamine significantly impaired memory acquisition at doses higher than 1.0 microgram, consolidation at a dose of 100 micrograms, and retrieval at doses of 10 and 100 micrograms. In contrast, a dose of 0.1 microgram significantly improved consolidation and retrieval. In the water maze with a bridge, scopolamine either impaired memory acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval, or had no significant effect in the dose range tested. These results suggest that there are differences in the process of memory formation in the passive avoidance and escape tests.

Memory processing by the limbic system: role of specific neurotransmitter systems

Experiments using localized infusions into selected brain structures of agonists and antagonists of various synaptic receptors, given before or after behavioral training, have led to the following conclusions: (1) Memory is processed shortly after training in the amygdala, medial septum and hippocampus by glutamatergic NMDA and AMPA receptors activated in that sequence. Cholinergic muscarinic receptors are activated concurrently with the former. GABAA receptors modulated by brain benzodiazepines and by beta-noradrenergic receptors inhibit the process. (2) The sequential involvement of NMDA and AMPA receptors suggests that long-term potentiation (LTP) of the synapses activated by the learning experiences in the hippocampus and/or amygdala and medial septum is the crucial event. Expression of this LTP at the time of testing is necessary for retrieval: AMPA receptor blockade in the hippocampus and amygdala at the time of testing hinders retrieval. This suggests that the LTP underlies the memory process itself. (3) The amygdala, medial septum and hippocampus mediate different types of memory and/or different components of memories. The entorhinal cortex, through mechanisms that require intact NMDA receptors and are inhibited by GABAA receptors, intervenes in post-training memory processing 90-180 min after the other limbic regions. The entorhinal cortex integrates consecutively acquired memories; this role could be maintained by the LTP that is generated after training in the amygdala, hippocampus and medial septum. Post-training intervention of the entorhinal cortex does not occur if this region is inhibited at the time of training.

DAU 6215, a novel 5-HT3-receptor antagonist, selectively antagonizes scopolamine-induced deficit in a passive-avoidance task, but not scopolamine-induced hypermotility in rats

This study examined the effects of DAU 6215, a selective 5-HT3-receptor antagonist, on either impairment of a passive-avoidance task or hypermotility, both caused by scopolamine in rats. In the first experiment, scopolamine (0.75 mg kg-1, i.p.) disrupted acquisition of a one-trial 'step through' passive-avoidance response. Pretreatment with DAU 6215 (1, 10, 30 and 100 micrograms kg-1, i.p.) antagonized this deficit induced by scopolamine, with a bell-shaped dose-response curve. Scopolamine (0.75 mg kg-1, i.p.) produced a significant increase in locomotor activity which was unaffected by pretreatment with DAU 6215 (10 and 30 micrograms kg-1, i.p.). The present results further support the suggestion that 5-HT3-receptor antagonists may prevent the memory disturbance caused by a reduction in central cholinergic function in the rat. The inefficacy shown by DAU 6215 on hyperactivity induced by scopolamine appears to rule out the possibility of a pharmacokinetic interference between DAU 6215 and scopolamine.

A peptide muscarinic toxin from the Green Mamba venom shows agonist-like action in an inhibitory avoidance learning task

A peptide, muscarinic toxin 2 (MTX2), isolated from Dendroaspis angusticeps venom was previously shown to displace the specific binding of [3H]pirenzepine, a muscarinic M1 receptor ligand, from rat brain synaptosomal membranes. We have tested MTX2 for muscarinic agonist or antagonist actions in an inhibitory avoidance task in rats. Infusion of the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine into the hippocampus of rats immediately after the training period produced amnesia, whereas the muscarinic agonist oxotremorine increased retention. When MTX2 was injected into the hippocampus of rats after the inhibitory avoidance task, it caused memory facilitation, which could be suppressed by the concomitant infusion of scopolamine. Hence, in this test, MTX2 showed muscarinic receptor agonist-like actions, which are probably mediated by the M1 subtype of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors.

The action of scopolamine on retrieval and memory storage in rats evaluated in the staircase maze

Rats were trained to run on staircase stopping on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th steps (correct responses). Stopping on any other step was considered an error. The acute administration of scopolamine (1.5 mg/kg) 20 min before the trial caused a reduction of the correct responses. An interruption of the daily training for 20 days caused, in the controls, a 24% reduction of correct responses. A chronic administration of scopolamine, at doses over 10 mg/kg in the first 15 days of the no-training period, nullified the behavioral deterioration observed in the controls. The interpretation of these results is that scopolamine damages the retrieval process and blocks the spontaneous decay of memory, as was observed in the controls after 20 days of interruption of the daily training.

Similar ameliorating effects of benzomorphans and 5-HT2 antagonists on drug-induced impairment of passive avoidance response in mice: comparison with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

Mice were trained to avoid electric shocks by means of step-down type passive avoidance learning tasks, and memory retention was measured 24 h after the training session. Memory impairment (amnesia) was produced by administering either p-chloroamphetamine (PCA), a serotonin (5-HT) releaser or scopolamine (SCOP), a muscarinic cholinoceptor antagonist, 30 min prior to the training session. Benzomorphans, 5-HT2 antagonists and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors were administered immediately after the training session. PCA- but not SCOP-induced amnesia was attenuated by the post-training administration of two benzomorphans, (+)N-allylnormetazocine ((+)SKF-10,047) and (+/- )pentazocine ((+/- )PTZ). Similarly, PCA-induced amnesia was reversed by the post-training administration of 5-HT2 antagonists, ritanserin (RIT) and mianserin (MIA), but SCOP-induced amnesia was not. However, the AChE inhibitors, tetrahydroaminoacridine (THA) and physostigmine (PHY) attenuated both PCA- and SCOP-induced amnesia when administered immediately after the training session. These results indicated that benzomorphans and 5-HT2 antagonists have antiamnestic effects in mice, as do AChE inhibitors. In addition, it is interesting that the patterns of ameliorating effect of benzomorphans were similar to those of 5-HT2 antagonists, which differ from those of AChE inhibitors.

The effects of p-chlorophenylalanine-induced serotonin synthesis inhibition and muscarinic blockade on the performance of rats in a 5-choice serial reaction time task

The effects of serotonergic dysfunction induced by treatment with p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis, and cholinergic dysfunction induced by scopolamine on the performance of adult rats in the 5-choice serial reaction time task measuring selective attention were studied. Food-deprived rats were trained to detect and respond to brief flashes of light presented randomly in one of five locations, until they reached a stable level of performance (about 4 months). Scopolamine 0.2 mg/kg produced a marked variation in the performance but did not, however, induce any consistent impairment in the discriminative accuracy. Other doses of scopolamine (0.05 and 0.1 mg/kg) or N-methyl-scopolamine 0.2 mg/kg, a peripheral muscarinic receptor antagonist, did not affect discriminative accuracy. Furthermore, scopolamine as well as N-methyl-scopolamine produced a number of other performance deficits, such as significantly decreased overall probability of responding and significantly increased response latencies. PCPA treatment induced an almost total depletion (> 99%) of frontal cortical serotonin and its major metabolite 5-HIAA and reduced the frontal cortical concentrations of noradrenaline (-30%) and dopamine (-42%). During baseline testing conditions, there was a trend for the discriminative accuracy to be decreased by PCPA, although this effect failed to reach significance (P = 0.07). Presenting the stimuli at unpredictable intervals or reducing the intensity of the visual stimulus impaired discriminative accuracy in both PCPA-treated and control rats. The decrease in discriminative accuracy induced by PCPA reached statistical significance when the stimuli were presented faster than normally or the intensity of the visual stimulus was reduced. PCPA treatment did not make the rats more susceptible to the effects of scopolamine on discriminative accuracy. However, PCPA treatment also induced a number of other performance deficits, resulting in a decreased overall tendency to respond. In summary, there is a statistically non-significant trend for the discriminative accuracy to be decreased by PCPA treatment under normal testing conditions, and as the discrimination task is made more difficult (stimulus intensity reduction, presentation of the stimuli at faster than normal rates), the deficit in discriminative accuracy produced by PCPA treatment is revealed. The results suggest a role for brain serotonin in the general organization of behavior.

Molecular mechanisms mediating the effects of L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine, a new cognition-enhancing drug, on behavioral and biochemical parameters in young and aged rats

The behavioral effects of the acute and subchronic administration of L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine (alpha-GPC) on passive and active avoidance behavioral tasks were investigated. When administered IP after training together with scopolamine 2 h before retest, alpha-GPC reverses the scopolamine-induced amnesia in the passive avoidance conditioning in young and old rats. Furthermore, the subchronic treatment with alpha-GPC positively and significantly influences the performance of both young and old animals in the active avoidance test. Moreover, in in vitro/ex vivo experiments alpha-GPC potentiates receptor-stimulated phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis in cortical synaptoneurosomes derived from young and old animals. In young but not old animals, alpha-GPC significantly potentiates potassium (40 mM)-stimulated intrasynaptosomal calcium oscillations in purified synaptosomes derived from the hippocampus. These results show that alpha-GPC improves the performance of animals in both active and passive conditioning tasks. Furthermore, subchronic treatment with the compound enhances in young and restores in aged animals the transduction of the signal, namely, the receptor-mediated production of inositol phosphate and the potassium-induced calcium mobilization. These modifications may represent at least part of the molecular mechanism of action of the compound.

Neurotransmitter receptors involved in post-training memory processing by the amygdala, medial septum, and hippocampus of the rat

Rats were trained and tested in habituation to a novel environment and step-down inhibitory avoidance. Immediately after training in each task the animals received intra-amygdala, intraseptal, or intrahippocampal micro-injections of agonists and antagonists of various neurotransmitter receptors. In the habitation task, intrahippocampal, but not intra-amygdala or intraseptal administration of the NMDA receptor antagonist aminophosphornopentanoic acid (AP5, 5.0 micrograms) or of the muscarinic receptor antagonist, scopolamine (2.0 micrograms) caused amnesia and the indirect antagonist of GABA-A receptors, picrotoxin (0.08 microgram), caused retrograde facilitation. Intrahippocampal administration of the respective agonists, glutamate, oxotremorine, and muscimol, had effects of their own opposite to those of the blockers, and norepinephrine (0.3 microgram) caused memory facilitation. In the avoidance task, results obtained with drug infusions given into the three structures were very similar: in all cases, AP5, scopolamine, and muscimol were amnestic, and glutamate, oxotremorine, norepinephrine, and picrotoxin caused memory facilitation. In addition, also in the three structures, picrotoxin counteracted the amnestic effect of AP5 and/or scopolamine and the beta-adrenoceptor blocker, timolol (0.3 microgram), while ineffective on its own, attenuated all the effects of picrotoxin. The results suggest that similar synaptic mechanisms in the amygdala, medial septum, and hippocampus are involved in memory consolidation: NMDA, muscarinic, and beta-noradrenergic receptors stimulate and GABA-A receptors inhibit this process, and beta-noradrenergic receptors modulate the GABAergic synapses. In the avoidance task these mechanisms operate in the three structures: in habituation only those in the hippocampus are operative. Possibly in each structure these mechanisms regulate, if not actually consolidate, a different aspect, component, or form of memory.

Ondansetron and arecoline prevent scopolamine-induced cognitive deficits in the marmoset

The cognitive-enhancing potential of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, ondansetron, was investigated in a model of cognitive impairment induced by the muscarinic receptor antagonist, scopolamine. For this purpose, marmosets were trained in an object discrimination task utilizing the Wisconsin General Test Apparatus. Administration of scopolamine (0.01-0.04 mg/kg, SC) caused a dose-dependent impairment in the acquisition of the object discrimination task in that marmosets required more trials to reach criterion, made more errors, and took longer to choose the objects. Administration of arecoline (0.06-0.1 mg/kg, SC) or 1,2,3,9-tetrahydro-9-methyl-3-[(2-methyl-1H-imidazol- 1-yl)methyl]-4H-carbazol-4-one,HCl.2H2O (ondansetron) (0.1-1 micrograms/kg, SC) prevented the scopolamine-induced impairment in task acquisition in that the performance of marmosets was indistinguishable from that of saline-treated animals and was significantly better than that following scopolamine/saline. From these studies, we conclude that ondansetron prevents impairment in the cognitive performance of marmosets induced by administration of scopolamine.

L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine antagonizes scopolamine-induced amnesia and enhances hippocampal cholinergic transmission in the rat

The effects of L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine (alpha-GPC) on scopolamine-induced memory impairment and on brain acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis and release were investigated in rats. Oral administration of alpha-GPC 3 h before the behavioural test prevented the learning impairment induced by scopolamine given 30 min before the acquisition of a passive avoidance response. Similarly, retrograde amnesia induced by scopolamine, given immediately after acquisition training, was also completely reversed by the drug. These effects were dose-dependent with a maximum at 300 mg/kg. The mechanism of action of this compound was investigated by measuring hippocampal ACh synthesis and release both in vivo by means of the microdialysis technique and in vitro in tissue slices. alpha-GPC dose dependently increased ACh release with a maximum at 300 mg/kg. In addition, i.v. injection of [14C]alpha-GPC resulted in [14C]ACh formation. The data suggest that the behavioural effects of alpha-GPC may be related to its property to increase hippocampal ACh synthesis and release.

Tetrahydroaminoacridine improves passive avoidance retention defects induced by aging and medial septal lesion but not by fimbria-fornix lesion

The present study examines whether tetrahydroaminoacridine (THA) can improve the deterioration in passive avoidance (PA) retention performance induced by medial septal (MS) and fimbria-fornix (FF) lesions in young rats or by aging. Retention of young MS-lesioned rats was improved by pretraining injection of THA at 3 mg/kg, but not by THA at 1 mg/kg or by either of the posttraining doses of THA (1 and 3 mg/kg). Pretraining injections of THA at 1 or 3 mg/kg had no effect on the PA retention performance of FF-lesioned rats. Age-induced PA failure was alleviated by pretraining administration of THA at 1 and 3 mg/kg. Posttraining injections of THA (1 or 3 mg/kg) had no effect on PA retention performance of aged rats. These results demonstrate that 1) THA may improve hippocampal cholinergic denervation-induced functional deficits and 2) some of the age-related PA deficits may be due to a cholinergic deficit and can be reversed with THA.

Effect of a new cognition enhancer, alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine, on scopolamine-induced amnesia and brain acetylcholine

The present study investigates the effect of the administration of alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine (alpha-GPC) on scopolamine-induced amnesia and on brain acetylcholine (ACh) levels and release in rats. The results indicate that alpha-GPC, when administered orally, reverses the amnesia caused by scopolamine in passive avoidance. The peak effect is observed using 600 mg/kg IG, 5 h before training. The effect of the drug is long lasting (up 30 h) in accordance with its pharmacokinetic characteristics. Since, alpha-GPC administered IG is cleaved within the gut mucosal cells to glycerophosphate and free choline, it is tempting to speculate that this drug acts by increasing the ACh precursor pool. This view is supported also by the observation that alpha-GPC partially counteracts the decrease of brain ACh levels elicited by scopolamine administration. The effect is observed in the hippocampus and cortex, but not in the striatum. Moreover, in ex vivo experiments, alpha-GPC is able to increase the amount of ACh released by rat hippocampus slices following potassium stimulation.

Bilateral injection of fasciculin into the amygdala of rats: effects on two avoidance tasks, acetylcholinesterase activity, and cholinergic muscarinic receptors

These experiments examined the effects of the bilateral injection of fasciculin-2 (FAS), a natural acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory peptide, into the amygdala of rats on acquisition and retention of two avoidance behaviors. Intraamygdala injection of FAS (150 ng/amygdala) produced a pronounced and long-lasting inhibition of AChE activity: 85% and 74% on day 2 and day 5, respectively. After 48 hr, FAS-treated animals showed no changes in training or test session performance in a step-down inhibitory avoidance task (training-test interval was 24 hr). In a 2-way shuttle avoidance task, intraamygdala FAS slightly reduced retention test performance without modifying training session scores. Two and five days after FAS injections into the amygdala, the density of muscarinic receptor decreased about 50% as measured by the specific bindings of 3H-quinuclidinyl benzilate and 3H-oxotremorine. No alterations were observed in the apparent dissociation constants. On the other hand, the central-type benzodiazepine receptor population of the amygdala remained unchanged, suggesting that FAS microinjection did not produce damage to neuronal components of these nuclei. In conclusion, the results presented have indicated that a clear-cut and long-lasting inhibition of AChE activity in the amygdala is not accompanied by a facilitation of learning and memory of two different avoidance tasks. Compensation of the increased cholinergic activity by a down-regulation of muscarinic receptors could account for these findings.