Puromycin and cycloheximide: different effects on hippocampal electrical activity.

Abstract. Mice were injected in the temporal region of the brain with cycloheximide or puromycin; both agents markedly inhibit protein synthesis in the brain. Recordings of electrical activity were made in the hippocampal region 5 hours after injection of these drugs. The amplitude and frequency observed in records from mice injected with cycloheximide were indistinguishable from those injected with saline alone. Records from puromycin-injected mice were strikingly abnormal. This finding may contribute to the differences in behavioral effects of intracerebral injections of the two inhibitors of protein synthesis studied.