Oral aniracetam treatment in C57BL/6J mice without pre-existing cognitive dysfunction reveals no changes in learning, memory, anxiety or stereotypy [version 3; referees: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]

Background: The piracetam analog, aniracetam, has recently received attention for its cognition enhancing potential, with minimal reported side effects. Previous studies report the drug to be effective in both human and non-human models with pre-existing cognitive dysfunction, but few studies have evaluated its efficacy in healthy subjects. A previous study performed in our laboratory found no cognitive enhancing effects of oral aniracetam administration 1-hour prior to behavioral testing in naïve C57BL/6J mice. Methods: The current study aims to further evaluate this drug by administration of aniracetam 30 minutes prior to testing in order to optimize any cognitive enhancing effects. In this study, all naïve C57BL/6J mice were tested in tasks of delayed fear conditioning, novel object recognition, rotarod, open field, elevated plus maze, and marble burying. Results: Across all tasks, animals in the treatment group failed to show enhanced learning when compared to controls. Conclusions: These results provide further evidence suggesting that aniracetam conveys no therapeutic benefit to subjects without pre-existing cognitive dysfunction