Work

Memantine Affects Cognitive Flexibility in the Morris Water Maze

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is multi-factorial mental disorder characterized by a copious array of congruent features cumulating in disrupted memory and dysthymia. Though the mechanism remains elusive, the highly unspecific pharmaceutical, memantine, provides modest benefits for patients with moderate-to-severe AD. A greater understanding of how memantine affects cognitive function promises to facilitate the search for better therapeutics. We therefore examined cognitive flexibility of mice following 5 and 10 mg/kg memantine administration using a platform re-location water maze. Strikingly, subjects receiving memantine demonstrated memory impairment relative to controls when re-trained off drug, revealing a novel and unusual disruption of cognitive flexibility.

Source: Journal of Alzheimer s Disease

DOI: 10.3233/jad-2011-110650

Authors: Bechara J. Saab, Ruxandra M. Luca, Wing B. Yuen, Adam M.P. Saab, John C. Roder

Institutions: Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus

Language: English

Topic: Alzheimer's disease research and treatments

Subfield: Physiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research