U. Staubli et al., CENTRALLY ACTIVE MODULATORS OF GLUTAMATE RECEPTORS FACILITATE THE INDUCTION OF LONG-TERM POTENTIATION IN-VIVO, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 91(23), 1994, pp. 11158-11162
An experimental drug, 1-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-ylcarbonyl)piperidine, that
facilitates glutamatergic transmission in brain after systemic admini
stration was tested for its effects on the induction of long-term pote
ntiation in the hippocampus of rats. Intraperitoneal injections of the
drug markedly increased the degree and duration of long-term potentia
tion; similar results were obtained with an analogue of 1-(1,3-benzodi
oxol-5-ylcarbonyl)piperidine that was also found to improve retention
of memory in a radial maze task and in an odor-matching problem. These
results define tools for enhancing long-term potentiation in vivo and
confirm an important prediction from the hypothesis that long-term po
tentiation is a substrate of memory.