What is the importance of vasopressin in memory processes?

Abstract

Vasopressin, a nonapeptide synthesized by neurons in the hypothalamus, has well-defined peripheral actions in regulating fluid and electrolyte balance. Vasopressin is the antidiuretic hormone which permits water resorption in the long collecting tubules of the kidney and, at high physiological titers in the blood, has a significant pressor activity. Based on their studies with rats, DeWied and his associates 5,17 have developed the thesis that vasopressin also plays a major role in the central nervous system's mediation of memory processes. They propose that vasopressin exerts long-term effects on the maintenance of learned responses by facilitating memory consolidation, storage and retrieval. In Hegelian fashion, work from other laboratories has suggested the antithesis; namely, that memory processes are unaffected by vasopressin. The present communication examines recent studies on this controversy and suggests that there is a transition towards a conceptual synthesis regarding our understanding of the role of vasopressin in behavior.