The Influence of Glutamate on Memory in Humans

Summary

The hippocampus is particularly laden with n-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and is at the same time one of the most important sites in declarative memory. The rationale of this study is that the NMDA partial agonist D-Cycloserine will promote learning compared to a placebo. On the other hand, the NMDA receptor antagonist Memantine might lead to reduced memory. We believe that the influence of NMDA receptors on memory can be determined via acute co-activation of the NMDA receptors with Cycloserine® (King Pharmaceuticals Ltd, active ingredient: DCycloserin, dose: 250 mg) and Memantine (Axura®, Merz, active ingredient: Memantine, dose: 20 mg)on both a behavioral and functional (fMRI) level.

Timeline

Start

2008-06

Primary completion

2011-08

Completion

2011-08

Publications

• Onur OA, Schlaepfer TE, Kukolja J, Bauer A, Jeung H, Patin A, Otte DM, Shah NJ, Maier W, Kendrick KM, Fink GR, Hurlemann R. The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor co-agonist D-cycloserine facilitates declarative learning and hippocampal activity in humans. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Jun 15;67(12):1205-11. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.01.022. Epub 2010 Mar 20.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.