Mechanisms of Sustained Increases of Firing Rate of Neurones in the Rat Cerebral Cortex after Polarization: Role of Protein Synthesis

Abstract

THERE is increasing evidence that some long-term changes in the functioning of the central nervous system, for example, learning and memory, are dependent on protein synthesis^1,2. The functioning of individual elements, however, is unaffected for long periods of time (24 h) using actinomycin D (ref. 3), which prevents RNA synthesis and for 7–12 h after puromycin has been given⁴, which blocks protein synthesis. It has been shown that sustained elevations of neuronal firing rate in the cortex following a 10 min period of polarization are not dependent on the activity of reverberating circuits, but more probably on changes in synaptic conduction (see preceding communication), and so it was decided to investigate the effects of inhibitors of protein synthesis on the establishment of these sustained changes.