imidazenil, a New Anxiolytic and Anticonvulsant Drug, Attenuates a Benzodiazepine-Induced Cognition Deficit in

Imidazenil is a highly potent partial allosteric modulator of y-aminobutyric acid action at a great variety of y-aminobutyric acidA receptors, whereas alprazolam is a full allosteric modu-lator at these receptors. Data in rats indicate that imidazenil, like alprazolam, has pharmacological effects in animals indic-ative of anxiolytic, antipanic and anticonvulsant activity in hu-mans, but unlike alprazolam, in animals imidazenil does not produce ataxia, sedation, tolerance or dependence nor does it potentiate the effects of ethanol. To extend the study of the imidazenil pharmacological profile, we administered this drug and alprazolam, alone and in combination, in monkeys working in a complex behavioral task. In one component of a multiple schedule (repeated acquisition or “learning”), patas monkeys acquired a different four-response chain each session by re