Objective
Essential tremor (ET) as a neurological disorder is accompanied by cognitive and motor disturbances. Despite the high incidence of ET, the drug treatment of ET remains unsatisfactory. Recently, abscisic acid (ABA) has been reported to have positive neurophysiological effects in mammals. Here, the effects of ABA on harmaline‐induced motor and cognitive impairments were investigated in rats.
Methods
Male Wistar rats weighing 120–140 g were divided into control, harmaline (30 mg/kg, ip), ABA vehicle (DMSO+normal saline), and ABA (10 μg/rat, icv, 30 min before harmaline injection) groups. Exploratory, balance and motor performance, anxiety, and cognitive function were assessed using footprint, open field, wire grip, rotarod, and shuttle box tests.
Results
The results indicated that ABA (10 μg/rat) can improve harmaline‐induced tremor in rats. The administration of ABA significantly increased time spent on wire grip and rotarod. In addition, ABA had a promising effect against the cognitive impairments induced by harmaline.
Conclusion
Taken together, ABA has positive effects on locomotor and cognitive impairments induced by tremor. However, further studies are required to determine the exact mechanisms of ABA on the ET.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.