Effects of guanfacine on three forms of distraction in the aging macaque
Abstract
alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists, such as clonidine and guanfacine, enhance attention in aged animals. According to one theory, alpha-2 receptor agonists improve attention by decreasing distractibility to task-irrelevant stimuli. In two healthy aging bonnet macaques, we investigated the effects of low-(0.001 mg/kg) and high-dose (0.05 mg/kg) acute intramuscular guanfacine versus saline control on accuracy (number of trials correct) in three tasks requiring attention: delayed matching-to-sample, one-target visual tracking (test of focused attention) and two-target visual tracking (test of divided attention). Each task employed distracting stimuli in a different paradigmatic context. One monkey responded to guanfacine at both doses with significant rises in accuracy on all three tasks. The second monkey showed significant accuracy improvement for high-dose guanfacine only. No sedation was observed. These results suggest that guanfacine improves attention and reduces distractibility in multiple task contexts in healthy aging primates.
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These improvements are observed immediately when guanfacine is infused directly into the PFC and when administered systemically.
“These improvements are observed immediately when guanfacine is infused directly into the PFC (Mao et al., 1999) and when administered systemically (Arnsten et al., 1988; O'Neill et al., 2000; Rama et al., 1996).”
From Catecholamine influences on prefrontal cortical function: Relevance to treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and related disorders (2011) · cites this paper as O'Neill et al., 2000
Guanfacine reduces disruption by distractors in aged monkeys.
“reduces disruption by distractors (Fig. 7C; (Arnsten and Contant, 1992, O'Neill et al., 2000))”
From Guanfacine’s mechanism of action in treating prefrontal cortical disorders: Successful translation across species (2020) · cites this paper as O'Neill et al., 2000
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- Authors
- O'Neill, J., Fitten, L. J., Siembieda, D. W., Ortiz, F., & Halgren, E.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- ORCID
- Halgren, Eric
- Venue
- Life Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2000-07
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 877-885
- ISSN
- 0024-3205 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2006317102
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 0.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Life Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- University of California, Davis
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- guanfacine, alpha-2 adrenergic agonists, clonidine, attention, distractibility, aging, bonnet macaque, delayed matching-to-sample, visual object tracking, divided attention, focused attention, cognitive aging
- MeSH terms
- Adrenergic alpha-Agonists, Aging, Animals, Attention, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Female, Macaca radiata, Guanfacine
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