ABSTRACT
Key Words: short-term memory, hippocampus, delayed-nonmatch-to-sample, neuron, electrophysiology, functional gene expression, cDNA microarray
HISTORY OF CANNABINOID EFFECTS ON MEMORY AND BEHAVIOR
The first indication that there was a receptor in the brain for ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol [∆9-THC], the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana or Cannabis, came from structure activity (SAR) studies of cannabimimetic compounds that were developed in the late 1980s by Pfizer Inc (Devane et al., 1988). These compounds (of which CP 55940 is the most studied) were extremely potent and produced effects similar to ∆9-THC on assays of adenylyl cyclase inhibition and cAMP accumulation (Howlett et al., 1986).
