Psychopharmacology

, Volume 107, Issue 2–3, pp 437–441 | Cite as

Hypersensitivity to scopolamine in the elderly

  • Charles Flicker
  • Steven H. Ferris
  • Michael Serby
Original Investigations
Received:
Revised:

Abstract

Scopolamine hydrobromide, 0.43 mg/70 kg, was administered by subcutaneous injection to ten young and ten elderly subjects. A comprehensive neuropsychological test battery was used to assess the effects of scopolamine, as compared to placebo, on cognitive function. As previously reported for this group of young subjects, scopolamine significantly impaired performance on tests of recent memory and visuospatial praxis. The same effects were observed in the elderly subjects, but the magnitude of the effects was much larger. The scopolamine injections produced significant psychomotor slowing in the elderly, whereas higher doses of the drug are required to produce this effect in young subjects. In both young and old subjects scopolamine failed to affect immediate memory, language function, object sorting, and the frequency of intrusion errors (although trends toward an effect were more apparent in the elderly). Remote memory, tested in the elderly only, was also unaffected. The results suggest that scopolamine's cognitive effects are quantitatively more pronounced in elderly subjects than young subjects, but that they are qualitatively similar and do not constitute a valid model for the cognitive dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Key words

Scopolamine Acetylcholine Aging Alzheimer's disease Memory Cognition 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Aigner TG, Mitchell SJ, Aggleton JP, DeLong MR, Struble RG, Price DL, Wenk GL, Mishkin M (1987) Effects of scopolamine and physostigmine on recognition memory in monkeys with ibotenic-acid lesions of the nucleus basalis of Meynert. Psychopharmacology 92:292–300Google Scholar
  2. Bartus RT, Dean RL, Beer B, Lippa AS (1982) The cholinergic hypothesis of geriatric memory dysfunction: a critical review. Science 217:408–417Google Scholar
  3. Beatty WW, Butters N, Janowsky DS (1986) Patterns of memory failure after scopolamine treatment: implications for cholinergic hypotheses of dementia. Behav Neural Biol 45:196–211Google Scholar
  4. Benton AL, Hamsher K, Varney NR, Spreen O (1983) Contributions to neuropsychological assessment. Oxford University Press, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  5. Drachman DA, Leavitt J (1974) Human memory and the cholinergic system: a relation to aging? Arch Neurol 30:113–121PubMedGoogle Scholar
  6. Flicker C, Bartus RT, Crook T, Ferris SH (1984) Effects of aging and dementia upon recent visuospatial memory. Neurobiol Aging 5:275–283CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  7. Flicker C, Ferris SH, Crook T, Bartus RT (1986) The effects of aging and dementia on concept formation as measured on an object-sorting task. Dev Neuropsychol 2:65–72Google Scholar
  8. Flicker C, Ferris SH, Crook T, Bartus RT (1987a) Implications of memory and language dysfunction in the naming deficit of senile dementia. Brain Lang 31:187–200CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  9. Flicker C, Ferris SH, Crook T, Bartus RT (1987b) A visual recognition memory test for the assessment of cognitive function in aging and dementia. Exp Aging Res 13:127–132PubMedGoogle Scholar
  10. Flicker C, Ferris SH, Crook T, Bartus RT (1989) Age differences in the vulnerability of facial recognition memory to proactive interference. Exp Aging Res 15:189–194PubMedGoogle Scholar
  11. Flicker C, Serby M, Ferris SH (1990) Scopolamine effects on memory, language, visuospatial praxis, and psychomotor speed. Psychopharmacology 100:243–250Google Scholar
  12. Fuld PA, Katzman R, Davies P, Terry RD (1982) Intrusions as a sign of Alzheimer dementia: chemical and pathological verification. Ann Neurol 11:155–159CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  13. Gilbert JG, Levee RF, Catalano FL (1968) A preliminary report on a new memory scale. Percept Mot Skill 27:277–278PubMedGoogle Scholar
  14. Lehman HE, Ban TA (1970) Psychometric tests in evaluation of brain pathology responsive to drugs. Geriatrics 25:142–147Google Scholar
  15. McCarthy M, Ferris SH, Clark E, Crook T (1981) Acquisition and retention of categorized material in normal aging and senile dementia. Exp Aging Res 7:127–135PubMedGoogle Scholar
  16. Mohs RC, Johns CA, Dunn DD, Sherman NA, Rosen WG, Davis KL (1986) Anticholinergic dementia as a model of Alzheimer's disease. In: Poon LW (ed) Handbook for clinical memory assessment of older adults. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 403–408Google Scholar
  17. Reisberg B, Ferris SH, de Leon MJ, Crook T (1982) The global deterioration scale for assessment of primary degenerative dementia. Am J Psychiatry 139:1136–1139PubMedGoogle Scholar
  18. Reisberg B, Schneck MK, Ferris SH, Schwartz GE, de Leon MJ (1983) The brief cognitive rating scale (BCRS): findings in primary degenerative dementia (PDD). Psychopharmacol Bull 19:47–50Google Scholar
  19. Squire LR (1974) Remote memory as affected by aging. Neuropsychologia 12:429–435CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  20. Storandt M, Botwinick J, Danziger WL (1986) Longitudinal changes: Patients with mild SDAT and matched healthy controls. In: Poon LW (ed) Handbook for clinical memory assessment of older adults. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 277–284Google Scholar
  21. Sunderland T, Tariot PN, Weingartner H, Murphy DL, Newhouse PA, Mueller EA, Cohen RM (1986) Pharmacologic modeling of Alzheimer's disease. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 10:599–610Google Scholar
  22. Sunderland T, Tariot PN, Cohen RM, Weingartner H, Mueller EA, Murphy DL (1987) Anticholinergic sensitivity in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type and age-matched controls. Arch Gen Psychiatry 44:418–426PubMedGoogle Scholar
  23. Troster A, Beatty W, Staton RD, Rorabaugh A (1989) Effects of scopolamine on anterograde and remote memory in humans. Psychobiology 17:12–18Google Scholar
  24. Tsui WH, Van Gelder P (1979) A general-purpose data extraction language. Behav Res Methods Instrum 11:199–204Google Scholar
  25. Van Gelder P, Todd J, Tsui WH (1979) Data acquisition software for high data rate experiments. Behav Res Methods Instrum 11:192–198Google Scholar
  26. Wechsler D (1955) Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Psychological Corporation, New YorkGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1992

Authors and Affiliations

  • Charles Flicker
    • 1
  • Steven H. Ferris
    • 1
  • Michael Serby
    • 1
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Psychiatry (HN 314)New York University Medical CenterNew YorkUSA
  2. 2.Psychiatry ServiceVA Medical CenterNew YorkUSA

Personalised recommendations