[The neurophysiological correlates of improvement in the cognitive characteristics of monkeys with modification of the NMDA-ergic structures of the prefrontal cortex].

The effect of the NMDA glutamate agonist on cognitive characteristics and short-term memory (SM) was studied in rhesus monkeys. The NMDA effect manifested itself in doubling the SM term and in changing of the unit activity in the prefrontal cortex. The NMDA also induced a considerable increase in the cross-correlation coefficients between the unit responses in visual and prefrontal cortex. The data obtained suggest that the glutamatergic structures of prefrontal cortex take part in the processes of visual recognition and the SM in monkeys. The effect seems to improve the short-term memorizing of a visual information.