Memory in mice analyzed with antibiotics. Antibiotics are useful to study stages of memory and to indicate molecular events which sustain memory

Aversive effects and retention impairment induced by acetoxycycloheximide in an instrumental task

AXM, when subcutaneously injected during the first 3 min following the acquisition of a nondiscriminative instrumental learning task, induced an aversion for the food reinforcement which had been associated with the training situation and with the pharmacological treatment. The high number of nonreinforced responses preceding the first reinforced response(RR) that animals performed when tested 6 days after AXM treatment, was not due to forgetting of the lever significance, but to this aversion. Animals treated with AXM showed low levels of lever pressing response and long latencies for their first RR; this deficit did not seem only to be due to food reinforcement aversion; it disappeared, as well as food aversion, when food reinforcement which had been associated with the learning situation and to treatment, was added to the daily feeding regimen during treatment-test interval. It has been shown, moreover, that more than 90 percent of cerebral protein synthesis was inhibited during the 5 hr following subcutaneous AXM injection. These findings are interpreted as an indication that AXM does not affect memory consolidation of a non discriminative instrumental learning.

Effects of protein synthesis inhibition on memory for active avoidance training

Inhibition of brain protein synthesis by anisomycin and acetoxycycloheximide was studied in mice for its biochemical and behavioral effects. By employing both drugs in low doses in a series of injections, we were able to maintain inhibition of protein synthesis of 80% or greater for up to 14 hr without causing detectable permanent physiological impairment. The drugs were employed as amnestic agents in mice trained to avoid footshock in a T-maze. As the duration of inhibition increased, the percentage of mice classed as amnesic increased. This amnesia could be reduced by increasing (a) the rate of acquisition, or (b) the number of training trials. Anisomycin was shown to cause a significant degree of amnesia for the escape component as well as the avoidance component of the learning. A single injection of anisomycin given 15 min prior to training did not cause significant changes in the acquisition or retention of avoidance conditioning, when comparison was made with saline-injected controls. Only additional injections given after training to prolong inhibition caused amnesia. Thus, those injections critical in obtaining amnesia were given at a time at which interference with acquisition could not have occurred, so the results bear clearly on memory processes.

Free and membrane-bound ribosomes and polysomes in hippocampal neurons during a learning experiment

The ribosomes of the CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells of hipocampus were investigated by morphometric methods after the acquisition of a shock-motivated brightness discrimination in rats. A significant increase in the total number of ribosomes was observed in CA1 cells of trained animals and in CA3 cells of both active controls and trained rats. A significant increase in membrane-bound ribosomes was obtained in CA1 and CA3 cells after training only. The results confirm the suggestion of an increased protein synthesis in hippocampal neurons during and after the acquisition of a brightness discrimination, as we have concluded from out previous investigations on the incorporation of labeled amino acids under identical experimental conditions. The results lead to the assumption that the protein synthesis in some neuronal cells may probably differ not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively in trained and untrained animals.

Puromycin's suppression of memory in mice as affected by caffeine

It has previously been shown that expression of maze-learning in mice is blocked for long periods of time by puromycin injected intracerebrally one or more days after the training experience. Treatment with caffeine after training has now been found to reduce greatly the amnestic effects of puromycin. With a high dose of caffeine (200 mg/kg) this reduction is evident 6 days after treatment with puromycin. With a lower dose of caffeine (25 mg/kg) the effect becomes evident only after a more extended period of time. In view of control experiments, we suggest that caffeine modifies factors necessary for the expression of memory and that this alteration makes puromycin relatively ineffective in blocking memory.

Facilitation of development of resistance to morphine analgesia by desglycinamide9-lysine vasopressin

Desglycinamide(9)-lysine vasopressin facilitates development of resistance to the analgesic action of morphine in mice if morphine is administered before the peptide. Desglycinamide(9)-lysine vasopressin is not a morphine antagonist, and does not appear to cause either hyperalgesia or alteration of the response to the technique used for evaluating analgesia.

The effect of strenuous and exhaustive exercise on learning

In view of reported effects of strenuous and exhaustive exercise on CNS activity, it was hypothesized that "fatiguing" exercise may influence learning retroactively as predicted by consolidation theory. Prelimary findings from two animal experiments are reported followed by a discussion of implications for future research.

Memory traces: experimental separation by cycloheximide and electroconvulsive shock

Mice given cycloheximide or saline were trained with a single trial. Electroconvulsive shock was administered to both groups at various times after training. Cycloheximide led to memory that decayed with time. Cycloheximide plus electroconvulsive shock produced complete amnesia at times when neither treatment alone produced amnesia. Only two types of processes appear to support memory storage in our study.

Effect of corticotropin and desglycinamide 9 -lysine vasopressin on suppression of memory by puromycin

The puromycin-induced blockade of expression of maze learning in mice can be prevented by subcutaneous administration of "Purified Cortrophin Gel" up to 3 days prior to training. A similar protective effect was not found when highly purified corticotropin was tested, but was observed after administration of desglycinamide(9)-lysine vasopressin. It appears that pressorpeptides are more potent protective agents than corticotropin when administered subcutaneously, and that vasopressin contamination of the commercial preparation was probably responsible for the protective effects previously reported. These experiments suggest that vasopressin and its congeners modify memory consolidation in such a way that the "expression" of memory becomes insensitive to puromycin.

Acetoxycycloheximide-induced transient amnesia: protective effects of adrenergic stimulants

It has previously been shown that rats trained 5 hr after intracerebral injection of acetoxycycloheximide show a transient amnesia at 24 hr after training. We have tested the possibility that adrenergic stimulants might provide protection from the amnesia. Metaraminol, given either before or after training or before testing, prevents the drug-induced amnesia. D-Amphetamine, injected soon after training, also prevents the amnesia. A model is presented to explain the drug-induced amnesia in terms of both the assumed effect of acetoxycycloheximide on the adrenergic system and prevention of the amnesia by metaraminol and D-amphetamine.

Effects of acetoxycycloheximide on appetitive learning and memory

The effects of direct brain infusions of acetoxycycloheximide (an inhibitor of protein synthesis; ACXH) on acquisition, storage and recall of memory for one-trial appetitive learning were examined in five experiments. ACXH was infused into the rats' hippocampi through implanted cannulas. Control subjects received an equal volume of physiological saline. ACXH was infused (a) 5 h before acquisition, (b) 5 hr before commencement of recall tests, and (c) immediately after acquisition. Each subject's general motor activity was recording during testing. The results indicate that (1) ACXH has similar effects on appetitive and avoidance learning. (2) ACXH administered immediately after acquisition, has no effect on memory. (3) At 4 hr after acquisition memory is affected by ACXH. (4) Short-term memory is unaffected by ACXH and can exist independently of long-term memory. (5) ACXH consistently reduces general motor activity.

Pituitary peptides and the suppression of memory by puromycin

It has previously been shown that the expression of memory of maze-learning in mice is blocked by intracerebrally-injected puromycin one or more days after the training experience, and that bilateral adrenalectomy before training protects memory against this effect of puromycin. Purified cortrophin gel, injected subcutaneously up to 3 days before training, has now been found to give results like those obtained with adrenalectomy and, additionally, to provide a high degree of protection when injected up to 16 hr after training. Several possible explanations for these effects have been considered and found to be inadequate.

Studies on memory: distribution of peptidyl-puromycin in subcellular fractions of mouse brain

Previous experience has led us to suggest that sustained blockage of memory in mice upon administration of puromycin is caused by the persistence of peptidyl-puromycin at synapses. The block can be removed and memory restored by intracerebral injections of water and by subcutaneous or intraperitoneal injections of several psychotropic drugs. The present experiments provide evidence that peptidyl-puromycin persists for long periods in subcellular fractions of synaptosomes (nerve endings), and that the peptide is lost from synaptosomal, but not from mitochondrial, fractions when memory is restored. These findings strengthen our interpretation of the mode of action of puromycin on memory.

Adrenalectomy and the suppression of memory by puromycin

It has previously been shown that expression of memory of maze-learning in mice is blocked by puromycin injected intracerebrally one or more days after the training experience. Bilateral adrenalectomy before training has now been found to protect memory against the effects of puromycin. This protection is absent when adrenalectomy follows training. In view of control experiments, we conclude that adrenalectomy before training modifies factors necessary for the expression of memory and that this alteration makes puromycin ineffective in blocking memory.

The biochemical basis of long-term memory

Learning and memory are important elements of our daily lives, familiar to all through introspection. Yet the mechanisms underlying these processes are still for the most part unknown. Here are problems which combine a maximum of intrinsic and practical interest with a minimum of actual knowledge and understanding. Years of our lives are dedicated to the formation of certain long-term memories and behaviour patterns, yet we have only rudimentary notions of how such ‘schooling’ is best accomplished. There is no certainty in any aspect of the process. We are not sure whether relatively few cells or millions participate in a memory trace; whether these cells change as a whole, or whether the changes are limited to synaptic regions. In fact, we cannot be certain whether the changes are confined to the neurones or whether the glia also participate.