Acetoxycycloheximide and transient amnesia in the rat.

Rats were trained during the severe inhibition of protein synthesis that follows intracerebral injection of acetoxycycloheximide. Amnesia was consistently observed 24 hours after training, but memory spontaneously returned within 6 days. There was, consequently, no evidence of interference by acetoxycycloheximide with the consolidation phase of memory, but rather a transient deficit in the retrieval phase. It is suggested that this deficit may be due to a deficiency in neurotransmitters.