Acute and chronic arecoline: Effects on a scopolamine-induced deficit in complex maze learning

• Published in: Pharmacology, biochemistry and behavior Vol. 53; no. 3; pp. 713 - 721
• Main Authors: Bratt, Alison M., Kelly, M.Elizabeth, Domeney, Annette M., Naylor, Robert J., Costall, Brenda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.03.1996; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Animals; Arecoline; Arecoline - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Cholinergic system; Continuous drug infusion; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Male; Maze Learning - drug effects; Medical sciences; Memory and learning; Neuropharmacology; Osmotic minipumps; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Rats; Reaction Time - drug effects; Scopolamine; Scopolamine - pharmacology; Stone maze; Time Factors; Osmotic minipumps; Scopolamine; Memory and learning; Cholinergic system; Stone maze; Arecoline; Continuous drug infusion; Memory disorder; Nervous system diseases; Intraperitoneal administration; Rat; Psychotropic; Treatment efficiency; Rodentia; Administration schedule; Cerebral disorder; Parasympathomimetic; Vertebrata; Chemotherapy; Chronic; Mammalia; Animal; Nootropic agent; Central nervous system disease; Amnesia; Neurological disorder
• ISSN: 0091-3057; 1873-5177
• DOI: 10.1016/0091-3057(95)02074-8

These studies tested the effect of arecoline, a nonselective muscarinic agonist, administered either acutely or by chronic peripheral infusion via osmotic minipumps, on a scopolamine-induced deficit in a Stone (14 unit) T-maze task in rats. Scopolamine alone (0.125–1.0 mg/kg, IP) dose-dependently impaired maze acquisition, increasing maze run-times and to a lesser extent, the number of errors committed. Neither acute administration of arecoline (5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg, IP), when tested against a deficit induced by scopolamine (0.25 mg/kg, IP), nor chronic arecoline administration (30 and 50 mg/kg per 24 h), when tested against a deficit induced by scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg), were able to ameliorate the decrements in maze performance. In fact, the higher dose of arecoline (50 mg/kg per 24 h) infused over 10 days potentiated the scopolamineinduced deficit, with respect to latency. These data indicate that dose selection is of great importance when employing arecoline in tests of learning and memory and that the influence of the method of administration of arecoline on the behavioural outcome warrants further study.