The Improver Effect of Noscapine in Comparison with Clonazepam on Short-Term Memory in Rat

Noscapine is one of the opioid alkaloids used as an appropriate cough and reduces the effects of bronchial asthma patients. It has similar effects on benzodiazepines and associated with anxiety and excessive appetite in animal tests. The effect of benzodiazepines is known to reduce memory and cause forgetfulness, especially before the learning phase. Morris water maze is an extensively used as an animal model for studying memory usage. We aimed to evaluate the effect of noscapine on short-term memory in male Wistar rats practiced at the 6th and 7th-day courses in the Morris water maze. The time elapsed and the distance traveled to find the hidden platform was considered as a measure of memory sensitivity. Noscapine (0. 5 and 1. 5 mg/kg) improves short-term memoryand clonazepam (2 mg/kg) antagonized this effect. Noscapine may facilitate short-term memory. Part of this work can be done by modifying benzodiazepine receptors.