[Ampakines - a promising approach to neuroprotection]

Increased interest in glutamatergic neurotransmission emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. Later, the role of glutamate neurotransmission in learning and memory processes became clear. AMPA receptors (AMPR) and NMDA receptors (NMDAR) turned out to be important links in the mechanism of long-term potentiation (LTP) involved in memory processes, which was expressed in an increase in the excitatory postsynaptic potential in response to repeated stimuli. The data obtained in recent decades indicate that AMPR is the main regulators of synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. In clinical terms, the greatest interest is not the formation of memory traces in various parts of the brain, but its restoration in various pathological processes, including reactivation of connections between neurons activated by learning in various areas of the brain. AMPAR synaptic plasticity disorder has been detected in several neurodegenerative diseases accompanied by cognitive disorders. Ampakines, a heterogeneous class of numerous small molecules that bind to the allosteric site on the AMPAR receptor, which slows down the kinetics of AMPAR deactivation, enhances excitatory synaptic current and enhances LTP, have become increasingly attracting the attention of researchers.