Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 26, 2026

Aversive Associative Learning and Memory Formation by Pairing Two Chemicals in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: June 23, 2022
Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Memantine
Shahrina Alam1, Kaelyn Skye Lingenfelter1, Aaron M Bender1
1Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine , Nashville, Tennessee 37232, United States.
Abstract:
Memantine was the first breakthrough medication for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and represents a fundamentally new mechanism of action (moderate-affinity, uncompetitive, voltage-dependent, N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist that exhibits fast on/off kinetics) to modulate glutamatergic dysfunction. Since its approval by the FDA in 2003, memantine, alone and in combination with donepezil, has improved patient outcomes in terms of cognition, behavioral disturbances, daily functioning, and delaying time to institutionalization. In this review, we will highlight the historical significance of memantine to AD (and other neuropsychiatric disorders) as well as provide an overview of the synthesis, pharmacology, and drug metabolism of this unique NMDA uncompetitive antagonist that clearly secures its place among the Classics in Chemical Neuroscience.
More Related Videos
18:01Paradigms for Pharmacological Characterization of C. elegans Synaptic Transmission Mutants
Published on: August 18, 2008
07:02A Computerized Test Battery to Study Pharmacodynamic Effects on the Central Nervous System of Cholinergic Drugs in Early Phase Drug Development
Published on: February 11, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Enhancers: Cholinesterase Inhibitors and NMDA Receptor Antagonists
Alzheimer's Disease: Treatment
Antiepileptic Drugs: Glutamate Antagonists
Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptor: Gating Mechanism
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...