Nefiracetam (DM-9384): effect on eyeblink classical conditioning in older rabbits

The nootropic compound nefiracetam was evaluated in 88 older rabbits in a 750-ms delay paradigm of eyeblink classical conditioning (EBCC). Rabbits (mean age = 28.7 months) were assigned in groups of eight to one of six conditions in experiment 1: paired tone conditioned stimulus (CS)-corneal airpuff unconditioned stimulus (US) presentations and 1, 3, or 10 mg nefiracetam/kg or sterile saline vehicle; explicitly unpaired CS and US presentations and 3 mg nefiracetam/kg or sterile saline vehicle. Animals in the paired conditions received 10 daily sessions of 90 paired trials and animals in the unpaired conditions received 10 daily sessions of 180 unpaired CS and US presentations. The six conditions in experiment 2 were 5, 10, and 15 mg nefiracetam/kg and vehicle in 15 sessions of paired presentations; 10 mg nefiracetam/kg and vehicle in 15 sessions of unpaired conditioning. In both experiments 1 and 2, acquisition measured by trials to learning criterion was significantly faster at the 10 mg/kg dose of nefiracetam. In the repeated measures analyses comparing six doses in the paired conditions, all dependent measures [percentage conditioned responses (CRs), CR amplitude, and response latency] indicated significantly better conditioning in rabbits treated with 10 mg nefiracetam/kg, but this dose did not increase motor responding or responding in the unpaired condition. Nefiracetam facilitated acquisition of EBCC in older rabbits. EBCC is performed poorly by older humans and is seriously impaired in Alzheimer's disease. These preclinical data in an animal model with clear parallels in humans suggest that nefiracetam may prove effective as a cognition enhancer in clinical trials.