Data on the relative effects of the neurohormone ACTH1-39 and the opioid peptide beta-endorphin on conditioned reflex activity in the hedgehog are presented. It was demonstrated that administration of ACTH (30-50 micrograms/kg s.c.) led to facilitation of learning and strengthening of memory processes (conditioned reflex traces). ACTH promoted strengthening of movement, orientational-investigative, and intersignal activities, produced hyperalgesia, and blocked the effects of naloxone. Administration of beta-endorphin (30-40 micrograms/kg s.c.) lengthened the latent periods of conditioned reflexes, produced a pronounced analgesic effect, and reduced movement and intersignal activities. The effects of beta-endorphin were eliminated by dosage with naloxone. Administration of beta-endorphin blocked the inhibitor effects of stimulation of the limbic cortex; doses of ACTH produced partial release of inhibitory effects. The differences between the effects of ACTH and beta-endorphin on higher nervous activity are discussed, as are the possible mechanisms of these effects.
This report provides comparative physiological data on the features of the regulatory effects of the neurohormone vasopressin on higher nervous activity in an ascending series of mammals consisting of insectivores, rodents, and primates. Administration of vasopressin to hedgehogs produced a general facilitatory effect on conditioned reflex brain activity. The effects of vasopressin on memory processes in hedgehogs was minor. In rabbits, vasopressin had greater regulatory effects on conditioned reflex memory than in hedgehogs. However, this was transient in nature. In monkeys, administration of vasopressin had complex differential effects on simple conditioned responses and different types of memory. The effects of vasopressin on memory processes were long-lasting and were different for corticalized and noncorticalized forms of nervous activity. The question of changes in the nature of the regulatory effects of vasopressin during phylogenesis is discussed, as is the question of the increases in its level of involvement in the regulation of higher nervous functions and memory processes.
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