Bradanicline is a potent and highly selective agonist of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) with an EC50 of 17 nM and a Ki of 1.4 nM for the human α7 nAChR. It is primarily employed in research pertaining to cognitive disorders [1] [2].

Bradanicline is more than a thousand-fold separation between the affinities for the α7 and α4β2 receptor subtypes and has no detectable effects on muscle or ganglionic nicotinic receptor subtypes, indicating a marked selectivity for the central nervous system over the peripheral nervous system [1].

Bradanicline (0.1-1 mg/kg) shows efficacy in animal models of the positive and negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction of schizophrenia [2].