Atomoxetine reverses attentional deficits produced by noradrenergic deafferentation of medial prefrontal cortex.
BACKGROUND
The majority of studies assessing executive function in attention deficit disorder (ADD) have shown deficits in attentional set shifting using either the Wisconsin card sorting task or the intra-dimensional/extra-dimensional set-shifting task (ID/ED). Damage to the prefrontal cortex in humans, primates, and rodents impairs extra-dimensional (ED) shifts. Noradrenergic depletion of the medial prefrontal cortex in rats is sufficient to impair attentional set shifting. Atomoxetine, a selective norepinephrine (NE) re-uptake inhibitor, is hypothesized to produce beneficial effects in patient with ADD by augmenting NE release in prefrontal cortex.


METHODS
We assessed the effects of systemic administration of atomoxetine (0.0, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.9 mg/kg/ml) in normal and noradrenergically lesioned (NE-LX) rats on attentional-set shifts. We replicated findings showing NE-LX rats are selectively impaired on the ED shifts but not reversals or other discriminations.


RESULTS
Atomoxetine remediated the attentional set-shifting impairments in NE-LX rats but impaired ED performance of non-lesioned rats.


CONCLUSIONS
Though atomoxetine is neurochemically selective, it is not wholly specific at doses >0.3 mg/kg. All doses of the drug were similar in their efficacy in reversing the ED deficit, but the effectiveness of the 0.1 mg/kg dose supports the hypothesis that increases in prefrontal NE alone are sufficient to improve attention in NE-LX rats. Moreover, the detrimental effects of the drug in non-lesioned rats support the hypothesis that optimal levels of NE in prefrontal cortex are critical to attentional set shifting with both supra- and sub-optimal levels producing attentional impairments.
Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Conant Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA.
Lori A
LA
Newman
Jenna
J
Darling
Jill
J
McGaughy
D018759:Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000069445:Atomoxetine Hydrochloride; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D011437:Propylamines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans
D018759:Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors; D011437:Propylamines; D000069445:Atomoxetine Hydrochloride; D009638:Norepinephrine