ABSTRACT
Over the past three or four decades, there has been increasing interest in the neuropharmacological regulation of memory. This field received a considerable impetus in the 1980s, with the identification of possible cognitive enhancing agents or “smart drugs”. The group of preparations already observed to display memory-enhancing effects in experimental learning situations is very large with diverse mechanisms of actions. Among others, the list includes cholinergic agonists at the muscarinic and nicotinic receptors, cholinesterase inhibitors such as physostigmine, calcium channel blockers such as nimodipine, neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, GABAB receptor blockers such as CGP 36742, peptides such as vasopressin and corticotropin, glucose, and not least, the large group of so-called nootropics including oxiracetam and piracetam (Beversdorf et al., 1998; Delis et al., 1987; Frith & Happé, 1994; Hermelin & O’Connor, 1970; Lord et al., 1994; O’Connor & Hermelin, 1967; Roediger & McDermott, 1995).
