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J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1999 Aug;290(2):731-9 Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist SIB-1508Y improves cognitive functioning in chronic low-dose MPTP-treated monkeys. Schneider JS, Tinker JP, Van Velson M, Menzaghi F, Lloyd GK Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Monkeys that receive chronic low-dose 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) administration have difficulty performing numerous cognitive tasks. This study further examines the extent to which chronic low-dose MPTP exposure affects performance of a visual memory task [variable delayed response (VDR)] with both attentional and short-term memory components and assesses the effects of the novel neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist SIB-1508Y and levodopa on cognitive task performance. Before MPTP treatment, these monkeys displayed a delay-dependent decrement in performance on the VDR task and performed well on delayed matching-to-sample and visual pattern discrimination tasks. Chronic low-dose MPTP treatment caused a shift to a delay-independent pattern of responding on the VDR task, such that short-delay trials were performed as poorly as long-delay trials. There were also deficits in performing the delayed matching-to-sample task, whereas visual discrimination performance remained intact. SIB-1508Y normalized the pattern of response on the VDR task by significantly improving performance on short-delay trials and on the delayed matching-to-sample task. These effects lasted up to 24 to 48 h after SIB-1508Y administration. Neither levodopa nor nicotine significantly improved task performance. These results suggest that chronic low-dose MPTP exposure results in a cognitive disturbance that can be corrected by the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist SIB-1508Y but not by levodopa. Thus, SIB-1508Y may be useful in the treatment of the cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease. PMID: 10411585, UI: 99340176 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----