| RESEARCH ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2009 | Volume
: 41
| Issue : 4 | Page : 192-196 |
Cholinergic influence on memory stages: A study on scopolamine amnesic mice
Rahul Agrawal1, Ethika Tyagi1, Gunjan Saxena1, Chandishwar Nath2
1 Division of Pharmacology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow - 226 001, India
2 Division of Toxicology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow - 226 001, India
Correspondence Address:
Chandishwar Nath
Division of Toxicology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow - 226 001
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0253-7613.56072
Objectives: The study was planned to determine cholinergic influence on different stages of memory - acquisition, consolidation and recall in scopolamine-induced amnesia (memory impairment) in mice.
Materials and Methods: To study acquision, consolidation and recall stages of memory, we administered scopolamine (0.75, 1.5 and 3 mg/kg ip) 30 minutes and five minutes prior to first trial acquisition and consolidation and 30 minutes prior to second trial recall of passive avoidance (PA) test, respectively, in separate groups. Tacrine (5 mg/kg po) and rivastigmine (5 mg/kg po) were administered one hour prior to first trial in separate groups which received scopolamine (3 mg/kg ip) 30 minutes and five minutes prior to first trial where as the control group received vehicle only.
Results: In the control group, there was a significant (P < 0.01) increase in transfer latency time (TLT) in the second trial compared to first indicating successful learning. In scopolamine treated groups, administering scopolamine 30 minutes or five minutes prior to first trial did not show any significant (P > 0.05) change in TLT whereas mice treated with scopolamine 30 minutes prior to second trial showed significant (P < 0.01) increase in TLT in second trial as compared to the first. Both tacrine and rivastigmine administration in scopolamine treated mice showed significant (P < 0.05-0.01) increase in TLT in second trial as compared to first trial while the rivastigmine treated group showed greater percentage retention compared to tacrine treated group.
Conclusion: Results show that acquisition and consolidation are more susceptible to the scopolamine effects than recall. Thus, it may be concluded that cholinergic influence is more on acquisition and consolidation as compared to recall.
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