Intracerebroventricular somatostatin attenuates electroconvulsive shock-induced amnesia in rats.

In the present study the effect of intracerebroventricularly (ICV) administered somatostatin on electroconvulsive shock-(ECS) induced retrograde amnesia was investigated in rats. The ECS significantly decreased foot shock-induced avoidance latency. Somatostatin in a dose of 1 microgram/4 microliter (ICV) had no action on the ECS-induced retrograde amnesia, while in a dose of 4 micrograms/4 microliters it significantly increased the avoidance latency if the treatment was performed immediately, 4 hr, 20 hr or 23 hr after the ECS. The results suggest that ICV administered somatostatin has an antiamnesic effect.