Scopolamine is a tropane alkaloid that can be found in many plants of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family.1 It is a muscarinic receptor antagonist that can be used to induce memory impairment in animals.2,3,4 Scopolamine prevents motion sickness, nausea, and vomiting in animals.3,5
1.Ziegler, J., and Facchini, P.J.Alkaloid biosynthesis: Metabolism and traffickingAnnu. Rev. Plant Biol.59735-769(2008) 2.Woods, S., Clarke, N.N., Layfield, R., et al.5-HT(6) receptor agonists and antagonists enhance learning and memory in a conditioned emotion response paradigm by modulation of cholinergic and glutamatergic mechanismsBr. J. Pharmacol.167436-449(2012) 3.Soto, E., and Vega, R.Neuropharmacology of vestibular system disordersCurr. Neuropharmacol.8(1)26-40(2010) 4.Shannon, H.E., Hart, J.C., Bymaster, F.P., et al.Muscarinic receptor agonists, like dopamine receptor antagonist antipsychotics, inhibit conditioned avoidance response in ratsJ. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther.290(2)901-907(1999) 5.Grynkiewicz, G., and Gadzikowska, M.Tropane alkaloids as medicinally useful natural products and their synthetic derivatives as new drugsPharmacol. Rep.60(4)439-463(2008)