title: Temporally distinct cognitive effects following acute administration of ketamine and phencyclidine in the rat.
abstract: Non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists such as phencyclidine (PCP) and ketamine are commonly and interchangeably used to model aspects of schizophrenia in animals. We compared here the effects of acute administration of these compounds over a range of pre-treatment times in tests of instrumental responding (VI 30s response schedule), simple reaction time (SRT) and cognitive flexibility (reversal learning and attentional set shifting digging task) in rats. At standard pre-treatment times (15-30 min), both ketamine and PCP produced overall response suppression in VI 30 and increased reaction times in SRT suggesting that any concomitant cognitive performance deficits are likely to be confounded by motor and/or motivational changes. However, the use of extended pre-treatment times produced deficits in cognitive flexibility measured up to 4h after drug administration in the absence of motor/motivational impairment. Generally, PCP increased impulsive responding in the SRT indicating a possible loss of inhibitory response control that may have contributed to deficits observed in reversal learning and attentional set-shifting. In contrast to PCP, ketamine did not have the same effect on impulsive responding, and possibly as a consequence produced more subtle cognitive deficits in attentional set-shifting. In summary, acute treatment with NMDAR antagonists can produce cognitive deficits in rodents that are relevant to schizophrenia, provided that motor and/or motivational effects are allowed to dissipate. The use of longer pre-treatment times than commonly employed might be advantageous. Also, ketamine, which is more frequently used in clinical settings, did not produce as extensive cognitive deficits as PCP.
authors.affiliation: Lilly Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly & Co. Ltd, Erl Wood Manor, Sunninghill Road, Windlesham, Surrey GU20 6PH, England, UK. Electronic address: gastambidefr@lilly.com.
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gastambide
authors.forename: Stephen N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Trevor W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Tricklebank
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gilmour
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007649:Ketamine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D010622:Phencyclidine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D007649:Ketamine; D010622:Phencyclidine
keywords: Attention; Executive control; Motor; NMDA; NMDAR; PCP; Pharmacokinetics; SRT; Schizophrenia; VI; non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor; phencyclidine; simple reaction time; variable interval