Differential effects of psychomotor stimulants on attentional performance in rats: nicotine, amphetamine, caffeine and methylphenidate

Nicotine can improve attentional performance in the rat as assessed by a modified five-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), but it is not known if the effect is shared with other psychomotor stimulants. This study compared the effects of nicotine, amphetamine, caffeine and methylphenidate on performance in the 5-CSRTT and determined whether presenting stimuli at unpredictable times by using variable inter-trial intervals (ITI) influenced the sensitivity of the task to the drugs. One group of male hooded rats was trained to obtain food reinforcers by nose-poking in response to 1 s light stimuli presented randomly in one of five apertures, with fixed ITI; for a second group of rats, ITI varied randomly (n=12 per group). As observed previously, nicotine (tested in doses of 0.05-0.2 mg/kg) produced dose-related improvements in accuracy, reduced omission errors and response latencies, but increased anticipatory responding. Amphetamine (0.1-0.8 mg/kg) and methylphenidate (2.5-10 mg/kg) increased accuracy and reduced response latency, and decreased anticipatory responding. Caffeine (2.5-20 mg/kg) did not improve performance except at a small dose that decreased omission errors only. Training at different levels of stimulus predictability influenced performance in the undrugged state but had little impact on profiles of responses to the drugs. The findings with methylphenidate support the potential value of the 5-CSRTT for testing drugs that may be useful in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.