Journal article
Differential Sensitivity to Psychostimulants Across Prefrontal Cognitive Tasks: Differential Involvement of Noradrenergic α1- and α2-Receptors
Biological psychiatry (1969), v 71(5), pp 467-473
01 Mar 2012
PMID: 21890109
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Psychostimulants improve a variety of cognitive and behavioral processes in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Limited observations suggest a potentially different dose-sensitivity of prefrontal cortex (PFC)-dependent function (narrow inverted-U-shaped dose–response curves) versus classroom/overt behavior (broad inverted U) in children with ADHD. Recent work in rodents demonstrates that methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin) elicits a narrow inverted-U-shaped improvement in performance in PFC-dependent tests of working memory. The current studies first tested the hypothesis that PFC-dependent tasks, in general, display narrow dose sensitivity to the beneficial actions of MPH.
The effects of varying doses of MPH were examined on performance of rats in two tests of PFC-dependent cognition, sustained attention and attentional set shifting. Additionally, the effect of pretreatment with the α1-antagonist prazosin (.5 mg/kg) on MPH-induced improvement in sustained attention was examined.
MPH produced a broad inverted-U-shaped facilitation of sustained attention and attentional set shifting. Prior research indicates α1-receptors impair, whereas α2-receptors improve, working memory. In contrast, attentional set shifting is improved with α1-receptor activation, whereas α2-receptors exert minimal effects in this task. Given the similar dose sensitivity of sustained attention and attentional set-shifting tasks, additional studies examined whether α1-receptors promote sustained attention, similar to attentional set shifting. In these studies, MPH-induced improvement in sustained attention was abolished by α1-receptor blockade.
PFC-dependent processes display differential sensitivity to the cognition-enhancing actions of psychostimulants that are linked to the differential involvement of α1- versus α2-receptors in these processes. These observations have significant preclinical and clinical implications.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Differential Sensitivity to Psychostimulants Across Prefrontal Cognitive Tasks: Differential Involvement of Noradrenergic α1- and α2-Receptors
- Creators
- Craig W Berridge - Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WisconsinJed S Shumsky - Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaMatt E Andrzejewski - Waisman Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WisconsinJill A McGaughy - Psychology Department, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New HampshireRobert C Spencer - Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WisconsinDavid M Devilbiss - Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WisconsinBarry D Waterhouse - Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Publication Details
- Biological psychiatry (1969), v 71(5), pp 467-473
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Neurobiology and Anatomy; [Retired Faculty]
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000300260700012
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84858751083
- Other Identifier
- 991014877831704721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Neurosciences
- Psychiatry