The atypical antipsychotic ziprasidone, but not haloperidol, improves phencyclidine-induced cognitive deficits in a reversal learning task in the rat.
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) March 1, 2003 Z Abdul-Monim, G P Reynolds, J C Neill
The drug phencyclidine (PCP) induces schizophrenia-like symptoms in rats, including cognitive deficits. This study tested whether the antipsychotics ziprasidone or haloperidol could reverse a PCP-induced learning impairment in rats housed either in social isolation or in groups. PCP at 1.0 and 1.5 mg/kg impaired performance on a reversal learning task in both groups. Haloperidol did not reverse this impairment and at higher doses (0.1 and 0.25 mg/kg) worsened performance, especially in socially housed rats. Ziprasidone at 2.5 mg/kg reversed the PCP-induced deficit, significantly in social animals and non-significantly in isolates. Rearing conditions did not affect the deficit or drug responses.