AZD-103...............The Lever Task.........
Interesting to get a better idea of the lever task.
From THE PATENT...
0340] The compounds disclosed herein [AZD-103] can be tested in an Alternating Lever Cyclic Ratio rat model of Alzheimer's disease (O'Hare, E. et al, Behavior Pharmacology, 7:742-753, (1996); Richardson, R L, et al., Brain Research, 54: 1-10, (2002)). This model has been able to detect cognitive deficits due to direct injection of amyloid-.beta. oligomers into rat brain.
[0341] The compounds can be administered concurrent with A.beta. oligomers known to adversely affect cognition and their ability to counteract the oligomer-induced cognitive decline can be assessed.
[0342] In the Alternativing Lever Cyclic Ratio (ALCR) test rats must first learn a complex sequence of lever-pressing requirements in order to earn food reinforcement in a two-lever experimental chamber. Subjects must alternate between two levers by switching to the other lever after pressing the first lever enough to get food rewards. The exact number of presses required for each food reward changes, first increasing from 2 responses per food pellet up to 56 based on the quadratic function, x.sup.2-x. One cycle is an entire ascending and descending sequence of these lever press requirements (e.g., 2, 6,12, 20, 30, 42, 56, 56, 42, 30, 20, 12, 6, and 2 presses per food reward). Six such full cycles are presented during each daily session. Errors can be scored when the subject perseveres on a lever after pressing enough to get the food reward, i.e., does not alternate (a Perseveration Error), or when a subject switches levers before completing the response requirement on that lever (a Switching Error).