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.