The effect of puromycin on neuromuscular transmission

The effect of memory blocking antibiotics and their analogs on acetylcholinesterase

The ability of antibiotics to inhibit acetylcholinesterase was measured in homogenates of goldfish brain. Puromycin aminonucleoside was the most potent inhibitor followed by puromycin, cycloheximide and acetoxycycloheximide. Puromycin effectively impaired retention of active-avoidance learning in goldfish when injected either immediately before or after training, while puromycin aminonucleoside did not regardless of injection time. These results suggest that the known amnestic effects of puromycin, cycloheximide and acetoxycycloheximide are not a consequence of interference with acetylcholinesterase.

Effect of cobra neurotoxin on retention of a brightness discrimination in rats

In view of some recent evidence that blockade of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors might interfere with memory recall, the possibility that intracranial injections of purified corbra neurotoxin, an irreversible nicotinic receptor blocker, would produce long-lasting amnesia was explored with a brightness discrimination habit in rats. The results indicate that even the highest tolerable dose of neurotoxin had no detectable effect on memory recall.