title: ACTH 4-10 and short-term memory.
abstract: ACTH 4-10 is a polypeptide which is a fragment of pituitary ACTH and was synthesized by Greven. Studies suggest that it does not have the endocrine or metabolic effects characteristic of ACTH but may have a specific enhancing effect on memory or possibly on attention. Several tasks which emphasized the storage phase of the memory process were presented to young adult (mean age: 23.6 yr) male volunteers. Subjects received 30 mg ACTH 4-10 subcutaneously and their performance on these tasks was compared against placebo. ACTH 4-10 had no effect on unisensory short-term memory. It did, however, impair performance of a bisensory short-term memory task. The bisensory task is complex and requires considerable focussing of attention. It is suggested that ACTH 4-10 may act on the arousal processes which energize behavior unselectively rather than result in focussing of attention.
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000328:Adult; D006309:Hearing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000187:drug effects*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000494:pharmacology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014785:Vision, Ocular
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone