Donepezil Effect on Visual Attention and Training

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2015-08-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

The present proposal investigates the role of the cholinergic system (the neurotransmitter acetylcholine) in improving vision and visual attention. Vision results from a complex processing of particular stimuli of the visual field. Attention enhances and prolongs the neural representations of visual input in the visual cortex. It has recently been shown that attention in the visual cortex depends on cholinergic mechanisms. The action of acetylcholine in the visual cortex consists in enhancement of the responsiveness to thalamocortical inputs, depression of local neuronal connections or extrastriate feedback projections and induction of gamma synchronisation. The investigators hypothesize that these effects are associated with long-term changes in functional connectivity in the visual cortex, visual attention and visual learning (improvement of the visual capacities).

In the present proposal, the investigators will test whether the administration of donepezil (Aricept, 5mg), a drug that increases the level of acetylcholine in the brain, will enhances the perceptual-cognitive abilities of young adult subjects. Perceptual-cognitive performance will be assessed in a multiple object tracking (MOT) task in a 3D automatic virtual environment. MOT is a task where observers are asked to maintain attentional focus on a limited number of preselected subgroup of elements in a dynamic scene. Multifocal attentional mechanisms are necessary to process the information. The task will be tested five time at one week interval to test whether donepezil and training improved the task performance of the subject, i.e. lead to perceptual learning. This study could help establish an intervention procedure to improve visual performance of subjects that need it.

• Phase: N/A
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Université de Montréal
• Treatments: Donepezil

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• good general health

• 17 < body mass index < 25

• visual acuity 6/6

• visual stereoscopy > 50

• standard visual field

Exclusion Criteria:

• pregnancy or breast feeding

• use of any drug or St John's wort

• smoking

• asthma

• pulmonary obstruction

• cardiovascular impairment

• attention troubles

• ocular diseases

• epilepsy

• lactose intolerance

• absorption of grapefruit juice