title: Nefiracetam and physostigmine: separate and combined effects on learning in older rabbits.
abstract: Physostigmine and nefiracetam were tested alone and in combination in 104 rabbits with a mean age of 28 months conditioned in the 750 ms delay eyeblink classical conditioning procedure. In Experiment 1, five doses of physostigmine (0.0005-0.2 mg/kg) enhanced conditioning. In Experiment 2, combinations of 10 mg/kg nefiracetam and 0.01, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg physostigmine improved the rate and magnitude of learning over rabbits treated with vehicle or 10 mg/kg nefiracetam alone. Brain AChE levels were significantly lower than vehicle for all doses of physostigmine and physostigmine plus nefiracetam. Control rabbits tested in the explicitly unpaired condition demonstrated that physostigmine alone and nefiracetam plus physostigmine had no non-associative effects. Physostigmine had a dramatic cognition-enhancing effect in older rabbits, and when nefiracetam was combined with physostigmine at a low dose, the ameliorating effect of physostigmine on learning was improved indicating that drug combinations for cognition enhancement may have therapeutic efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. pak@temple.edu
authors.forename: Diana S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Woodruff-Pak
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ewers
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiotani
authors.forename: Shegio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watabe
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Gary L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Wenk
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004347:Drug Interactions; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D010830:Physostigmine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011760:Pyrrolidinones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D004338:Drug Combinations; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D011760:Pyrrolidinones; C058876:nefiracetam; D010830:Physostigmine; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase