The regional distribution of the nerve-stimulating phosphopeptide (nerveside, substance B) in the central nervous system.

1. The nerve-stimulating phosphopeptide, nerveside, is present mainly in the cerebrum and brain stem, while the cerebellum contains only a trace amount of it.2. Nerveside is uniformly distributed over all parts of the cerebral cortex.3. The cerebral cortex contains the greatest concentration of nerveside. If the nerveside activity of 1 g cerebral cortex is expressed as 100 then the relative activities of the other parts of the C.N.S. are hippocampus 41, caudate nucleus 21, diencephalon (without hypothalamus) 24, midbrain 19, pons 7, medulla 12 and cerebellum 6.4. The nerveside activity of the hypothalamus is the same as that of the cerebral cortex.5. The pattern of distribution of nerveside in the C.N.S. suggests that it may be part of a corticipetal or corticifugal system.