Differential effect of acetyl-l-carnitine on open field behavior in young and old rats.

Acetyl-l-carnitine (ALCAR) exerts antiaging effects with study we evaluated the effect of a chronic treatment with ALCAR (6 weeks, 50 mg/kg/day) on the open field behavior of 5-month-old and 26-month-old male Wistar rats. Old rats defecated more, made fewer crossings, and spent more time in the corner squares. However, it is difficult to interpret these findings in terms of an increase in emotional reactivity with age because locomotor performance generally has been found to be impaired in old rats.

The cone field: a spatial discrimination task for the automatic and simultaneous assessment of working and reference memory in rats.

A cone field apparatus was developed in which spatial working memory (WM) and reference memory (RM) can be assessed automatically and simultaneously. The cone field is a large open field with 16 cones in it. A configuration of four cones was baited with a food pellet.