Ampakines (original) (raw)

A profile of the behavioral changes produced by
facilitation of AMPA-type glutamate receptors
by
Davis CM, Moskovitz B, Nguyen MA,
Tran BB, Arai A, Lynch G, Granger R.
Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory,
University of California, Irvine 92697-3800, USA
Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1997 Sep;133(2):161-7

ABSTRACT

A newly developed group of benzoylpiperidine drugs that enhance AMPA-receptor-gated currents ("ampakines") has been shown to improve memory encoding in rats across a variety of experimental paradigms. The present experiments were intended to i) provide a partial profile of the behavioral changes produced by ampakines, ii) test if two ampakines (BDP-12 and BDP-20) that differ significantly in their effects on AMPA receptor kinetics produce similar behavioral profiles, and iii) determine if physiological potency is reflected in behavioral potency. BDP-20 reduced two measures of exploratory activity in aged rats but increased speed of performance in a radial maze; the drug also caused substantially improved retention of spatial information. These results are similar to those obtained with BDP-12, an analog that differs from BDP-20 in its effects on ligand binding to the AMPA receptor and on the physiological responses of the receptors to glutamate. BDP-20 was approximately ten-fold more potent in behavioral effects than BDP-12, which agrees with the relative potencies of the two drugs as assessed with excised patches and excitatory synaptic responses. These findings indicate that ampakines, though differing in their effects on AMPA-receptor-mediated responses, have similar effects at the behavioral level.

AMPA CX717 CX-516 Ampakines New brain cells Ampakine CX614 The memory switch? Dumb-drug euphoria Growing new brain cells Coffee, caffeine and Parkinson's disease

****Refs** and further reading

****HOME** HedWeb Nootropics cocaine.wiki Future Opioids BLTC Research MDMA/Ecstasy Superhapiness? Utopian Surgery? The Abolitionist Project The Hedonistic Imperative The Reproductive Revolution Critique of Huxley's Brave New World

****** The Good Drug Guide The Responsible Parent's Guide
To Healthy Mood Boosters For All The Family