Journal Article

Atomoxetine accelerates attentional set shifting without affecting learning rate in the rat

Totah, Nelson K., Logothetis, Nikos K., Eschenko, Oxana

2015

Overview

Rationale Shifting to a new rule is a form of behavioral flexibility that is impaired in numerous psychiatric and neurological illnesses. Animal studies have revealed that this form of flexibility depends upon norepinephrine (NE) neurotransmission. Atomoxetine, a NE reuptake inhibitor, improves performance of humans in set shifting tasks. Objective Our objective was to validate its effects in a rodent set shifting task. Methods We tested the drug effect using an operant task that required a shift from a visual cue-guided behavior to a novel location-guided rule. Results A 1.0-mg/kg dose significantly accelerated rule shifting without affecting learning strategies, such as win-stay or lose-shift. Fitting behavioral performance with a learning function provided a measure of learning rate. Conclusion This novel analysis revealed that atomoxetine accelerated shifting to the new rule without affecting learning rate.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors - pharmacology / Animals / Atomoxetine / Atomoxetine Hydrochloride - pharmacology / Attention - drug effects / Attention - physiology / Attentional bias / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Dosage and administration / Inhibitor drugs / Learning - drug effects / Learning - physiology / Learning strategies / Male / Neurosciences / Neurotransmitters / Norepinephrine - pharmacology / Observations / Original Investigation / Pharmacology/Toxicology / Physiological aspects / Properties / Psychiatry / Psychopharmacology / Rats / Rats, Sprague-Dawley / Reaction Time - drug effects / Reaction Time - physiology / Rodents / Time Factors