title: Memantine ameliorates scopolamine-induced amnesia in chicks trained on taste-avoidance learning.
abstract: In day-old chicks trained on the one-trial taste-avoidance task, activation of NMDA receptors by glutamate is particularly important in the initial stages of memory consolidation. In addition, acetylcholine receptor activation has been shown to be a necessary component of memory formation for this task because injection of scopolamine produces amnesia. Memantine, a non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist, improves memory formation under certain impairing circumstances, despite inhibiting the activation of NMDA receptors. The present experiments tested the hypothesis that memantine can ameliorate scopolamine-induced amnesia in day-old chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus) trained on the one-trial taste-avoidance task. Three experiments assessed the effects of scopolamine, memantine, and glutamate in this task. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that 50.0mM scopolamine produces significant amnesia. In Experiment 2, 1.0mM memantine reversed the scopolamine-induced amnesia, while other doses were ineffective. In Experiment 3, injection of 50.0mM glutamate in combination with scopolamine reversed the memantine amelioration. These results indicate a relationship between glutamate and acetylcholine in memory formation in the day-old chick.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA 17013, USA. barber@dickinson.edu
authors.forename: Teresa A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: Megan K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Haggarty
mesh_terms: D000647:Amnesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002645:Chickens; D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008559:Memantine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000378:metabolism; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate / Q000378:metabolism; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D012601:Scopolamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D055697:Taste Perception / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D012601:Scopolamine; D008559:Memantine