Physiological significance of neurohypophyseal hormones in memory processes.

: Peptides of the neurohypophyseal system play an important role in processes related to memory. Their physiological importance in this respect has been established by: 1. rats from which the posterior lobe of the pituitary had been removed; 2. Brattleboro rats which lack the ability to synthesize vasopressin; 3. rats in which the amount of centrally available neurohypophyseal hormones had been reduced by treatment with antisera to these peptides. All three groups of animals display disturbances in memory function.