Publications by authors named "Marc R Plagenhoef"
Article Synopsis
- Rodent models have helped scientists make important discoveries about the brain, but many new drugs tested on them don't work well in humans, especially for problems like Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
- Researchers want to look at natural aging in monkeys instead, as they are more similar to humans and could help find better treatments.
- In a study, older monkeys were tested on their thinking skills and were divided into groups based on their performance, showing that some were doing well while others had difficulties; a drug tested on the less skilled ones showed promise for improving their thinking.
Atomoxetine is a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor and FDA-approved treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, adolescents, and adults. While there is some evidence that atomoxetine may improve additional domains of cognition beyond attention in both young adults and aged individuals, this subject has not been extensively investigated. Here, we evaluated atomoxetine (in low mg/kg doses) in a variable stimulus duration (vSD) and a variable intertrial interval (vITI) version of the five choice-serial reaction time task (5C-SRTT), and an eight-arm radial arm maze (RAM) procedure in young-adult rats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTropisetron, a 5-HT receptor antagonist commonly prescribed for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting also exhibits high affinity, partial agonist activity at α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7 nAChRs). α7 nAChRs are considered viable therapeutic targets for neuropsychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we further explored the nAChR pharmacology of tropisetron to include the homomeric α7 nAChR and recently characterized heteromeric α7β2 nAChR (1:10 ratio) and we evaluated its cognitive effects in young and aged animals.
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