Nitric Oxide Involved in Learning and Memory

Nitric oxide (NO) is known to act as a neurotransmitter in the brain. It has been found to support cognitive function in experimental animals. Consequently, scientists reviewed the scientific literature for the effects of NO’s precursor, NO donors, and NO inhibitors of its synthesis in order to show evidence for the involvement of NO in learning and memory processes.

In their review, the scientists also included human and animal studies where NO donors positively affected the suboptimal learning and memory associated with defective NO activity in the brain during times of excessive neuronal activity, stress, and imbalanced blood sugar metabolism. In addition, the reviewers also studied reports on how NO donors affected cognitive function during aging, which may occur as a result of deposition of unwanted proteins in the brain.

After reviewing all the studies on NO, the scientists concluded, ”The experimental findings reviewed provide sufficient evidence that NO activates the computational ability of the brain.“

Reference:

Paul V, Ekambaram P. Involvement of nitric oxide in learning and memory processes.  Indian J Med Res. May 2011;133:471-478.