TY - JOUR
T1 - Behavioral Aspects of Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone (MSH)
AU - Kastin, Abba J.
AU - Miller, Lyle H.
AU - Nockton, Ransom
AU - Sandman, Curt A.
AU - Schally, Andrew V.
AU - Stratton, Lois O.
N1 - Funding Information:
* The work reported here was supported in part by grants from the Veterans Administration and NIH (NS 07664 and AM 07467). ** Present address: Ohio State University, Columbus, 0. (U.S.A.).
PY - 1973/1/1
Y1 - 1973/1/1
N2 - The pituitary hormone MSH has been tested in several different behavioral systems. It was found to increase resistance to extinction of a conditioned active avoidance response, a passive avoidance response, and an appetitive response. Perseverance, general activity levels, and memory could not be shown to fully explain the actions of MSH in the tasks studied, but subtle interactions may have been involved. Some studies in rats and human beings indicated an effect of MSH upon the attentive process, particularly visual attention. It is possible that MSH increases emotional arousal which leads to increased attention to some environmental cues. Electrical correlates of MSH activity have been found in animal and man, and endogenous MSH appears to respond to several types of stress. It is speculated that during the course of evolution, MSH has maintained its 'adaptive' value for the organism, but that this may apply only to simple tasks. The conclusion is reached that in mammals MSH exhibits definite extra pigmentary actions upon behavior.
AB - The pituitary hormone MSH has been tested in several different behavioral systems. It was found to increase resistance to extinction of a conditioned active avoidance response, a passive avoidance response, and an appetitive response. Perseverance, general activity levels, and memory could not be shown to fully explain the actions of MSH in the tasks studied, but subtle interactions may have been involved. Some studies in rats and human beings indicated an effect of MSH upon the attentive process, particularly visual attention. It is possible that MSH increases emotional arousal which leads to increased attention to some environmental cues. Electrical correlates of MSH activity have been found in animal and man, and endogenous MSH appears to respond to several types of stress. It is speculated that during the course of evolution, MSH has maintained its 'adaptive' value for the organism, but that this may apply only to simple tasks. The conclusion is reached that in mammals MSH exhibits definite extra pigmentary actions upon behavior.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0079-6123(08)64100-X
DO - 10.1016/S0079-6123(08)64100-X
M3 - Article
C2 - 4363916
AN - SCOPUS:0015799916
VL - 39
SP - 461
EP - 470
JO - Progress in Brain Research
JF - Progress in Brain Research
SN - 0079-6123
IS - C
ER -