A new one-trial test for neurobiological studies of memory in rats. II: Effects of piracetam and pramiracetam

The rat perirhinal cortex: A review of anatomy, physiology, plasticity, and function

“…Evidence for the validity of the object recognition task as a test of memory come from initial studies which showed that nootropic drugs enhanced performance in the task (Ennaceur et al, 1989) and systemic antagonism of cholinergic neurotransmission causes a time-dependent impairment in object discrimination (Ennaceur and Meliani, 1992a). Immediate early gene imaging studies have shown that the perirhinal cortex is activated following object recognition tasks (Wan et al, 1999;Aggleton and Brown, 2005;Warburton et al, 2005) and following the presentation of novel visual stimuli (Zhu et al, 1995b(Zhu et al, , 1996(Zhu et al, , 1997, thus indicating that the perirhinal cortex plays a central role in novelty detection.…”

The influences of sex, rearing environment, and neonatal choline dietary supplementation on spatial and nonspatial learning and memory in adult rats

“…Successful performance is also at least partially dependent on the ability of the animal to select and remember appropriate responses as well as their ability to utilize and remember the stimulus aspects of the spatial environment. One paradigm that has proved useful in assessing the effects of temporary and permanent cortical and hippocampal lesions (e.g., Granon, Save, Buhot, & Poucet, 1996), and pharmacological treatment (e.g., Ennaceur, Covoy, Costa, & Delacour, 1989) in spatial encoding and memory, has focused on reliably elicited exploratory reactions to novelty and their habituation with repeated exposure. A wide variety of species have been tested using many different versions of the paradigm and age, sex, and early stimulation history have all been shown to influence the behaviors elicited in such circumstances (e.g., Inglis, 1983;Renner, Bennett, & White, 1992).…”

BMY 21502 and piracetam facilitate performance of two-choice win-stay water-escape in normal rats

“…While the present data do not permit a definitive choice between these two explanations, it should be noted that piracetam purportedly exerts no tranquilizing effects (Bartus et al, 1983) and has facilitated performance on a number of non-averisve tasks where anxiolytic effects would be irrelevant or detrimental Ennaceur et al, 1989;Krejci and Dlabac, 1984;Olton and Wenk, 1984). Also, recall that BMY21502, which has not been demonstrated to be anxiolytic, facilitated monkeys on acquisition of an appetitive shape discrimination task (Fitten etal., 1990), a task on which an anxiolytic effect would have been detrimental.…”

“…Piracetam facilitated performance on an indirect delayed response task by some monkeys . In rats, piracetam increased exploration of a novel object over a "familiar object" (Ennaceur et al, 1989) and, when piracetam was combined with pentoxifylline and dietary choline chloride, it improved acquisition in a radial arm maze (Olton and Wenk, 1984). Piracetam alone impaired performance in a radial arm maze by rats (Beatty etal., 1985).…”