strychnine and Amnesia

Topics: Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; alpha-Methyltyrosine; Amnesia; Amphetamine; Animals; Anisomycin; Cycloheximide; Disease Models, Animal; Electroshock; Ether; Ethyl Ethers; Humans; Learning; Methyltyrosines; Phenoxybenzamine; Protein Biosynthesis; Puromycin; Reserpine; Strychnine; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; Vasopressins

Topics: Amnesia; Animals; Avoidance Learning; Behavior, Animal; Brain; Discrimination Learning; Electric Stimulation; Electrophysiology; Electroshock; Humans; Information Theory; Learning; Memory; Memory, Short-Term; Mice; Psychological Theory; Strychnine; Time Factors

Topics: Amnesia; Anesthesia, General; Animals; Anticonvulsants; Azaguanine; Barbiturates; Behavior, Animal; Carbon Dioxide; Central Nervous System Stimulants; Cortical Spreading Depression; Dactinomycin; Electroconvulsive Therapy; Ethyl Ethers; Halothane; Humans; Methods; Mice; Nitriles; Pentylenetetrazole; Pharmacology; Puromycin; Rats; Reserpine; Strychnine

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effectiveness of strychnine sulfate in attenuating the amnesia induced in mice by small doses of cycloheximide (CYC). Previously, reversal of CYC-induced amnesia catecholamine agonists has been taken as evidence that protein synthesis inhibitors induce amnesia via an inhibition of catecholamine synthesis. The results of Experiment 1 suggested that strychnine sulfate could attenuate an amnesia induced by 30 mg/kg CYC, and the results of Experiment 2 revealed that even the robust amnesia induced by 75 mg/kg CYC could be attenuated by strychnine sulfate. The results of these experiments support the results of previous experiments which showed that agents having little or no effect on the catecholamines can nonetheless attenuate amnesia induced by the protein synthesis inhibitors. Thus, some method other than attenuation of the retention deficit by catecholamine agonists must be used to test the hypothesis that protein synthesis inhibitors induce amnesia via an inhibition of catecholamine synthesis.

Topics: Amnesia; Animals; Catecholamines; Cycloheximide; Humans; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Strychnine

Topics: Amnesia; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Bemegride; Diazepam; Humans; Male; Mice; Motor Activity; Motor Skills; Picrotoxin; Rats; Seizures; Strychnine

Topics: Amnesia; Animals; Anisomycin; Arousal; Avoidance Learning; Central Nervous System Stimulants; Chloral Hydrate; Conditioning, Operant; Dextroamphetamine; Drug Antagonism; Drug Synergism; Humans; Hypnotics and Sedatives; Male; Memory; Mice; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Phenobarbital; Picrotoxin; Retention, Psychology; Strychnine; Time Factors

Groups of C57BL/6J mice were administred cycloheximide (CYC) 30 min before or immediately after training on a passive avoidance task and tested 72 hr later. Some CYC-pretreated groups were given strychnine or d-amphetamine (d-amp) immediately after training and others were given d-amp 1 hr after training. Other groups were given diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) at various times before or after training. Some DDC-pretreated groups were gived-amp or strychnine as described above for CYC groups. Immediate posttraining administration of 5 mg/kg d-amp, but not strychnine, prevented amnesia in CYC-pretreated mice. The DDC induced an apparent amnesia when administered from 30 min before training to 3 hr after training. Posttraining administration of d-amp or strychnine did not prevent DDC-induced amnesia. These results are discussed in relation to previous suggestions that CYC- and DDC-induced amnesia may be the result of a functional impairment of catecholamine neurotransmitter systems by these drugs.

Topics: Amnesia; Animals; Cycloheximide; Dextroamphetamine; Ditiocarb; Humans; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Strychnine; Thiocarbamates

Topics: Amnesia; Animals; Avoidance Learning; Electroshock; Humans; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Male; Memory; Memory, Short-Term; Mice; Reaction Time; Seizures; Strychnine; Time Factors