The effect of monoamine oxidase inhibition on formation, fixation and reproduction of temporary connections]

An administration of 100 to 300 mg/kg doses of iprazid to rats and mice leads in 24 hours to a considerably higher serotonin and noradrenaline content in the brain. Defensive conditioning against this background proceeds in the same way as in control animals but the retention of elaborated reflexes is sharply disturbed. A similar effect is produced by 5-oxytryptophane. An iprazid administration after conditioning does not disturb the retention and subsequent achievement of the reflex. Inclusion of S35-methionine in the total proteins of the mice brain does not change under the influence of iprazid. A conclusion has been drawn that inhibition of monoaminoxidase by iprazid does not prevent the formation and reproduction of temporary connections, but deeply disturbs their fixation. It is suggested that the revealed disturbances of fixation of temporary connections are due to the accumulation of serotonin in the brain, which suppresses the protein synthesis in the synaptosomes or that of specific proteins.