ISOARECOLONE-INDUCED ENHANCEMENT OF DELAYED MATCHING-TO-SAMPLE PERFORMANCE IN MONKEYS - ROLE OF NICOTINIC RECEPTORS

NICOTINE enhances memory performance in young and aged monkeys perform ing a version of the delayed matching to sample (DMTS) task. However, the beneficial actions of nicotine are often limited by debilitating s ide effects. Isoarecolone is a piperidine derivative with nicotine-lik e activity, but having a slightly different profile of behavioral acti ons in rodents. In young monkeys, isoarecolone produced a dose-depende nt enhancement of the DMTS task on the same day of testing, with a tre nd towards enhanced performance in animals tested 24 h after administr ation. Isoarecolone was about 1500-fold less potent than nicotine in e nhancing DMTS performance. The ability of isoarecolone to enhance DMTS performance was well correlated with its ability to interact with cor tical nicotinic receptors in vitro.