EFFECT OF GLUTAMIC ACID AND OTHER AMINO ACIDS ON MAZE LEARNING IN THE WHITE RAT

Price, Waelsch and Putnam1have recently reported thatdl-glutamic acid hydrochloride may be used as an adjuvant in the treatment of petit mal seizures of epileptic patients who are otherwise resistant to anticonvulsant therapy. They found that the administration of the racemic glutamic acid hydrochloride decreased the number of seizures. These investigators also reported a "universally increased mental and physical alertness" in the patients so treated and noted that the "degree of improvement in mental efficiency could not be correlated with the incidence of seizures." On the basis of these clinical observations, it appeared of interest to investigate in detail the effects of glutamic acid and its derivatives on the learning ability of the white rat. However, it must be kept in mind that the experiments reported in the following study were not designed to reproduce the changes observed in the patients, but, rather to demonstrate the effect