Aniracetam and Behavior
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Access changed 3/2/2017.
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Abstract
Aniracetam is a therapeutically useful cognition enhancer (nootropic) for alleviating anxiety and treating various neurodegenerative conditions. Aniracetam is shown to enhance both glutamatergic neurotransmission and long-term potentiation (LTP) formation. Previous studies of aniracetam have focused on acute administration in different models of disease and have demonstrated dramatic cognition-rescuing effects. We investigated if, given a daily oral regimen at a clinically established dose, cognitive performance could be elevated in healthy C57 Black 6 male mice. In a double-blind, placebo-control design, we investigated the performance-enhancing potential of aniracetam on a variety of aspects of cognitive behavior. This study is timely considering the growing community of laypeople self-administering nootropics. Our findings suggest that while aniracetam is clinically effective to reverse impairment it does not appear useful as a cognitive enhancer in unimpaired populations.