Therapeutic value of Ginkgo biloba in reducing symptoms of decline in mental function.

The Chinese tree Ginkgo biloba or "maiden hair tree" is extensively cultivated for the exploitation of the medicinal properties of its leaves. From these, a well-defined extract designated "EGb 761" has been developed, which was commercialized initially as Tanakan, Tebonin and Rokin; a similar product, Kaveri (LI 3170), also exists. The major therapeutic applications for these products are "cerebral insufficiency", other cerebral disorders, neurosensory problems and peripheral circulatory disturbances.

CANTAB battery: proposed utility in neurotoxicology.

The CANTAB battery was developed for the assessment of cognitive deficits in humans with neurodegenerative diseases or brain damage. It consists of a series of interrelated computerized tests of memory, attention, and executive function, administered via a touch sensitive screen. It allows a decomposition of complex tasks commonly used in clinical assessment into their cognitive components and enables the extrapolation of findings from the animal literature.

Studies of instrumental behavior with sexual reinforcement in male rats (Rattus norvegicus): I. Control by brief visual stimuli paired with a receptive female.

We describe a novel procedure for measuring instrumental sexual behavior in the male rat by using a second-order schedule of presentation of sexual reinforcement, an estrous female. Experimental assessment and validation of the paradigm have been achieved by examining (a) the importance of the conditioned stimulus in maintaining instrumental responding by measuring the effects of its omission during a test session, (b) the effects and motivational specificity on instrumental behavior of the postejaculatory refractory period (a period of sexual unarousability) and of satiety for food by measuring the impact of each manipulation on animals working for food and for a female, (c) the effects of replacing an estrous female with an anestrous one as the earned reward, and (d) the correlations between conditioned and unconditioned measures of sexual behavior. We conclude that the second-order paradigm provides a means of distinguishing between the effects of neuroendocrine manipulations on incentive motivational and performance variables underlying the expression of sexual behavior.

A comparison of two different methods for the measurement of drinking in the rat.

Drinkometers based on two different principles are described and compared. A capacitative design relied on the detection of a very small current through the animal as a means of recording contacts between the animal's tongue and the drinking spout. A photocell-based design relied on a beam across the front of the drinking spout being broken by the animal's tongue as a record of access to the spout.

Asymmetry in the effects of unilateral 6-OHDA lesions on eating and drinking evoked by hypothalamic stimulation.

The present experiment investigated the effects of unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens on eating and drinking evoked by electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus (ESLH). Lesions were made on either the 'dominant' or 'non-dominant' hemisphere as defined by an amphetamine-rotation test. We report here that lesions of the 'dominant hemisphere' were significantly more effective in disrupting ESLH-evoked behavior as well as producing longer-lasting deficits in somatosensory responsiveness as measured by the 'tactile extinction test'.