Methylphenidate enhances acquisition and retention of spatial memory

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 567; pp. 45 - 50
• Main Authors: Carmack, Stephanie A., Block, Carina L., Howell, Kristin K., Anagnostaras, Stephan G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.05.2014
• Subjects: Animals; Central Nervous System Stimulants - pharmacology; Cognitive enhancement; Conditioning, Classical - drug effects; Fear; Fear conditioning; Female; Hippocampus; Male; Maze Learning - drug effects; Memory - drug effects; Methylphenidate - pharmacology; Mice; Mouse; Orientation - drug effects; Psychostimulant; Retention (Psychology) - drug effects; Water maze; Cognitive enhancement; Psychostimulant; Mouse; Hippocampus; Water maze; Fear conditioning
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2014.03.029

•10mg/kg MPH given pre-training enhances learning on the hidden platform version of the Morris water maze.•1 or 10mg/kg MPH given pre-training enhances retention of spatial memory in the water maze.•10mg/kg MPH given chronically before Pavlovian fear conditioning dramatically impairs long-term fear memory. Psychostimulants containing methylphenidate (MPH) are increasingly being used both on and off-label to enhance learning and memory. Still, almost no studies have investigated MPH's ability to specifically improve spatial or long-term memory. Here we examined the effect of training with 1 or 10mg/kg MPH on hidden platform learning in the Morris water maze. 10mg/kg MPH improved memory acquisition and retention, while 1mg/kg MPH improved memory retention. Taken together with prior evidence that low, clinically relevant, doses of MPH (0.01–1mg/kg MPH) enhance fear memory we conclude that MPH broadly enhances memory.