title: Effects of single and repeated administration of vigabatrin on the performance of rats in a 5-choice serial reaction time task.
abstract: The present study investigated whether pharmacological stimulation of the GABAergic system can affect attention. The effects of vigabatrin, a novel antiepileptic drug, on the performance of rats in a 5-choice serial reaction time task assessing selective attention were studied. The effects of acute (100, 300, 500 and 1000 mg/kg) and subchronic (50, 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg/day) administration of vigabatrin were investigated. Previous studies have shown that with acute administration of 300-500 mg/kg or subchronic administration of 50-200 mg/kg/day vigabatrin has anticonvulsant activity. At acute doses of 100 and 300 mg/kg or subchronic administration of 50-200 mg/kg/day vigabatrin had no effect on selective attention. At acute dosing of 500 mg/kg, vigabatrin slightly decreased behavioral activity of rats through decreasing the number of trials completed and percent of correct responses. The highest doses used caused an overall behavioral impairment with no marked depletion of any particular function. The results showed that administration of vigabatrin at antiepileptic doses produced no or slight impairment in attentional function. The deficits seen with higher doses were possibly due to a decrease in behavioral activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazurkiewicz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sirviö
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riekkinen
mesh_terms: D000614:Aminocaproates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects*; D012691:Serial Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects; D020888:Vigabatrin; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000614:Aminocaproates; D000927:Anticonvulsants; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D020888:Vigabatrin