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Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!decvax!duke!phs!jbray@bbncca.ARPA (James Bray)
From: jbray@bbncca.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: Hydergine and Vasopressin
Message-ID: <347@bbncca.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 25-Nov-83 17:55:53 EST
Article-I.D.: bbncca.347
Posted: Fri Nov 25 17:55:53 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 27-Nov-83 03:48:47 EST
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References: <634@cbosgd.UUCP> <341@bbncca.ARPA>
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Message-ID:<347@bbncca.ARPA>
Date:Fri, 25-Nov-83 17:55:53 EST
Organization:Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma.

I think there was some work done with vasopressin and perhaps ACTH
(adreno-cortico-trophic-hormone) being given intranasally to human subjects
and I think showing some sort of performance enhancements. It sounded
interesting, but I have heard of similar work done with b-vitamins,
amphetamines, caffeine, nicotene, etc. The real question is whether the
enhancements that are produced are really just a side-effect of general
activation and reinforcement or are specific to cognitive mechanisms, and
if there is, as with amphetamines, a price to be paid.
  I had never heard of Hydergine before, but would be interest to know
more about it or anything else in this area of research. For example,
there was a fellow at some Midwestern university who claimed to have
come up with a compound which was quite consistently and positively
memory-enhancing. I read about this several times in the papers, but it
never showed up in Scientific American, and I never heard any more about
it. Anyone know anything about it?

--Jim Bray	UUCP decvax!bbncca!jbray	ARPA jbray@bbncca