The NMDA antagonist memantine impairs classical eyeblink conditioning in humans.

Neurosci Lett

Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Germany.

Published: March 1997

The present study investigated the effects of a single oral dose (30 mg) of the non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist memantine on memory and learning in human subjects. Sixteen male healthy volunteers participated in a double blind placebo controlled study. There were no significant effects of memantine on mood, attention or immediate and delayed verbal and visuospatial memory. Memantine did, however, delay the acquisition of classical eyeblink conditioning and reduced the overall frequency of conditioned responses without affecting reflex or spontaneous eyeblinks. These findings are compatible with the higher affinity of memantine to cerebellar as compared to forebrain tissue and demonstrate the dissociability of different memory systems by pharmacological tools.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0304-3940(97)13452-8DOI Listing

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