Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, NC 27710, USA.
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2011 Aug;99(2):146-54. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2011.02.008. Epub 2011 Feb 18.
Attention can be readily measured in experimental animal models. Animal models of attention have been used to better understand the neural systems involved in attention, how attention is impaired, and how therapeutic treatments can ameliorate attentional deficits. This review focuses on the ways in which animal models are used to better understand the neuronal mechanism of attention and how to develop new therapeutic treatments for attentional impairment. Several behavioral test methods have been developed for experimental animal studies of attention, including a 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), a signal detection task (SDT), and a novel object recognition (NOR) test. These tasks can be used together with genetic, lesion, pharmacological and behavioral models of attentional impairment to test the efficacy of novel therapeutic treatments. The most prominent genetic model is the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Well-characterized lesion models include frontal cortical or hippocampal lesions. Pharmacological models include challenge with the NMDA glutamate antagonist dizocilpine (MK-801), the nicotinic cholinergic antagonist mecamylamine and the muscarinic cholinergic antagonist scopolamine. Behavioral models include distracting stimuli and attenuated target stimuli. Important validation of these behavioral tests and models of attentional impairments for developing effective treatments for attentional dysfunction is the fact that stimulant treatments effective for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), such as methylphenidate (Ritalin®), are effective in the experimental animal models. Newer lines of treatment including nicotinic agonists, α4β2 nicotinic receptor desensitizers, and histamine H₃ antagonists, have also been found to be effective in improving attention in these animal models. Good carryover has also been seen for the attentional improvement caused by nicotine in experimental animal models and in human populations. Animal models of attention can be effectively used for the development of new treatments of attentional impairment in ADHD and other syndromes in which have attentional impairments occur, such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.
注意力可以在实验动物模型中很容易地进行测量。注意力的动物模型已被用于更好地理解注意力所涉及的神经机制、注意力如何受损以及治疗方法如何改善注意力缺陷。本综述重点介绍了动物模型如何更好地理解注意力的神经元机制，以及如何开发治疗注意力障碍的新疗法。已经开发了几种用于注意力的实验动物研究的行为测试方法，包括 5 选择连续反应时间任务（5-CSRTT）、信号检测任务（SDT）和新颖物体识别（NOR）测试。这些任务可以与注意力损伤的遗传、损伤、药理学和行为模型一起使用，以测试新的治疗方法的疗效。最突出的遗传模型是自发性高血压大鼠（SHR）。特征明确的损伤模型包括前额皮质或海马损伤。药理学模型包括 NMDA 谷氨酸拮抗剂地卓西平（MK-801）、烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体拮抗剂美金刚胺和毒蕈碱型乙酰胆碱受体拮抗剂东莨菪碱的挑战。行为模型包括分散刺激和减弱的目标刺激。这些注意力损伤的行为测试和模型对于开发有效的注意力障碍治疗方法非常重要，因为治疗注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）的兴奋剂治疗方法如哌醋甲酯（利他林®）在实验动物模型中是有效的。较新的治疗方法包括烟碱激动剂、α4β2 烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体脱敏剂和组胺 H3 拮抗剂，也被发现可有效改善这些动物模型中的注意力。在实验动物模型和人类中，尼古丁引起的注意力改善也有很好的延续性。注意力动物模型可有效地用于开发治疗 ADHD 和其他注意力障碍综合征的新疗法，如阿尔茨海默病和精神分裂症。
