Levetiracetam

[Seppi]

IDK if this drug is marketed as a cognition enhancer like other racetams, but has anyone ever used this regularly for any length of time? I'm wondering how this is unique in relation to other racetams.

AFAIK, it's the first non-experimental drug that has been shown to reduce the induction of delta FosB expression in a dopaminergic projection (nigrostriatal) of any species (rats).

 

[sekio]

It's prescribed for epilepsy, isn't it?

 

[neurotic]

You suggesting it could be a potential thing against addiction?

 

[Epsilon Alpha]

the literature suggests a moderate improvement in cognition, but from what I've seen in clinic there are plenty non-descript complaints of mild worsening of cognition and emotional issues.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23839084

Source on the reductions in deltaFosB claim please?

 

[Seppi]

@Sekio: yes
@Neurotic: any treatment that represses accumbal ΔFosB (specifically, in D1-type medium spiny neurons) will almost surely be a very effective treatment for all forms of addiction. I don't know of any experimental pharmaceuticals that repress the gene, but viral vector gene therapy is a more promising route... though I have no clue what the status is on the timeframe for any clinical testing.
@Epsilon: It's in this section, with some added context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ΔFosB#Other_functions_in_the_brain - I should add that I initially misread the statement. I thought it suggested this compound was a ΔFosB repressor. It just reduces its induction, likely by an upstream (from changes in CREB/ΔFosB expression) pharmacodynamic interaction with levodopa.

In a nutshell, dorsal striatal ΔFosB is what fucks Parkinsons patients with levodopa therapy as well.