BMY 21502 and piracetam facilitate performance of two-choice win-stay water-escape in normal rats

Abstract

Sprague-Dawley rats given either 5 or 10 mg/kg of a new compound, BMY 21502, 150 mg/kg of piracetam or a dose of methylcellulose vehicle (p.o.) daily for 38 days beginning two days before training were compared on performance of a win-stay water-escape task in a circular water maze requiring the use of working memory. The task involved giving the rats pairs of trials in which the location of a submerged escape platform remained the same within a pair of trials but changed semirandomly across pairs. Rats receiving either 5 mg/kg BMY 21502 or piracetam made more correct choices than did rats receiving only the vehicle (p<0.05 in each case). The facilitated performance was associated with making fewer perseverative responses that resulted in errors.