论文部分内容阅读
Early life blockade of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor by using MK-801,a non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist,induces behavioral changes that mimic several aspects of schizophrenia.We previously reported MK-801 treatment early in life resulted in subtle deficits of spatial working memory in adolescent female rats,whereas in adulthood,there was a markedly impaired performance.The observation of age-specific effects in female rats raised the possibility that early MK-801 treatment could induce age-specific cognitive changes in male rats.In addition,cognitive dysfunctions remain the most poorly treated of all symptoms in schizophrenia.Enhancing cholinergic function has been suggested as a possible strategy for ameliorating the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia.In both humans and animal models,galantamine is frequently used to treat memory impairments associated with Alzheimers disease and is being considered for use in schizophrenia.We conducted a separate experiment to test the hypothesis that galantamine treatment would improve neonatal MK-801-induced spatial working memory deficits.