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Abstract

Rationale. Nitric oxide (NO) is sought to be a novel intracellular messenger in the central nervous system. Recently, NO involvement in learning and memory processes has been proposed. Compounds that inhibit NO synthase, the key synthesizing enzyme, may block cognition, while NO donors may facilitate it.

Objectives. The present study was designed to further investigate in the rat the effects on distinct memory processes exerted by the NO donor molsidomine. For this aim, the object-recognition task was chosen. This test is based on the differential exploration of a new and familiar object.

Methods. Object recognition was evaluated in a two-trial nonrewarded paradigm. In a first study, the influence of the retention time (the delay between the two trials) on the performance of 3-month-old male rats was assessed. Subsequently, the effects of molsidomine (2 mg/kg …