Lalonde R, Joyal C C
Neurology Service, Neurobiology Section, Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1993 Mar;44(3):539-45. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(93)90164-o.
An NMDA antagonist, ketamine, at the highest dose tested (15 mg/kg), impaired the acquisition of a hole-board spatial learning task but not the acquisition of a left-right alternation task. A non-NMDA (quisqualate) antagonist, L-glutamic acid diethyl ester (LGDE), did not impair the acquisition of either task. Both drugs had effects on different aspects of a go-no go discrimination task and a straight runway task, ketamine tending to activate and LGDE tending to slow rats. These results concur with previous research regarding the sensitivity of some spatial tasks to NMDA antagonism. Non-NMDA antagonists affect behavior without causing spatial deficits.
