Memory impairment after subcutaneous injection of acetoxycycloheximide.

Subcutaneous injection of 240 micrograms of acetoxycycloheximide in mice rapidly produces marked inhibition of cerebral protein synthesis. Treated mice were trained to escape shock by choosing the lighted limb of a T-maze. When trained five or more minutes after injection, they had a normal capacity to learn. They remembered normally 3 hours after training, but 6 hours after training they had markedly impaired retention. Amnesia persisted thereafter. Injections immediately after training had a less marked but significant amnesic effect. These studies suggest that protein synthesis is not necessary for learning or for memory for 3 hours after training but that it is required for long-term memory. The protein synthesis which appears to be necessary for long-term e3memory occurs during training, or within minutes after training, or both.