Role of state-dependent learning in the cognitive effects of caffeine in mice.

Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world and it is generally believed that it promotes beneficial effects on cognitive performance. However, there is also evidence suggesting that caffeine has inhibitory effects on learning and memory. Considering that caffeine may have anxiogenic effects, thus changing the emotional state of the subjects, state-dependent learning may play a role in caffeine-induced cognitive alterations.

Ethanol-induced memory impairment in a discriminative avoidance task is state-dependent.

Background: A considerable amount of experimental evidence has demonstrated ethanol (EtOH) induced amnestic effects following EtOH administration during pretraining in a variety of tasks both in humans and in laboratory animals. Although the phenomenon of state-dependency is known to play a critical role in memory deficits induced by both pharmacological and nonpharmacological pretraining perturbations, the involvement of this phenomenon in EtOH-induced anterograde amnesia has been overlooked. This study aimed to investigate the role of state-dependency in EtOH-induced amnestic effects and its interactions with the well-known anxiolysis and locomotor alterations.

Inhibitory effects of modafinil on emotional memory in mice.

Modafinil (MOD), a psychostimulant used to treat narcolepsy, excessive daytime sleepiness, and sleepiness due to obstructive sleep apnea, appears to promote a possible facilitatory effect on cognitive function. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the acute administration of MOD on the different steps of emotional memory formation and usage (acquisition, consolidation and retrieval) as well as the possible participation of the state-dependency phenomenon on the cognitive effects of this compound. Mice were acutely treated with 32, 64 or 128 mg/kg MOD before training or testing or immediately after training and were subjected to the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task.

Effects of zolpidem on sedation, anxiety, and memory in the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task.

Rationale: Zolpidem (Zolp), a hypnotic drug prescribed to treat insomnia, may have negative effects on memory, but reports are inconsistent.

Objectives: We examined the effects of acute doses of Zolp (2, 5, or 10 mg/kg, i.p.

Sleep deprivation impairs emotional memory retrieval in mice: influence of sex.

The deleterious effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation on memory processes are well documented. However, non-selective sleep deprivation occurs more commonly in modern society and thus represents a better translational model. We have recently reported that acute total sleep deprivation (TSD) for 6 h immediately before testing impaired performance of male mice in the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task (PM-DAT) and in the passive avoidance task (PAT).

Differential effects of intermittent and continuous exposure to novel environmental stimuli on the development of amphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization in mice: implications for addiction.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated a preventive effect of continuous environmental enrichment during early development on the vulnerability of rodents to drug addiction-related behaviors. Recently, it was demonstrated that a continuous environmental enrichment could eliminate already established addiction-related behaviors in mice. The present study compared the effects of intermittent or continuous exposure to novel stimuli during repeated amphetamine (Amp) treatment on the development of behavioral sensitization (an animal model of addiction-related neuroadaptations) in adult mice.

Effects of sleep deprivation on memory in mice: role of state-dependent learning.

Study Objectives: A considerable amount of experimental evidence suggests that sleep plays a critical role in learning/memory processes. In addition to paradoxical sleep, slow wave sleep is also reported to be involved in the consolidation process of memories. Additionally, sleep deprivation can induce other behavioral modifications, such as emotionality and alternations in locomotor activity in rodents.