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0 0 Pharmacologica! Research Communications, Vo1. 6, No. 4, 1974 REGIONAL ALTERATIONS OF SYNAPTIC 0-PHOSPHORYLETHANOLAbtINE - IN DIFFERENTIALLY HOUSED MICE' h'alter B. Essman Queens College of the City University of New York Flushing, N.Y. 11367 SUMMARY In three experiments, the relationship between brain 0-phosphorylethanol- amine (PE) and isolation-induced behavioral effects was considered. It was observed that following eight weeks of isolation, male CF-1S strain mice showed highly significant elevations in synaptosomal PE in structures of the limbic system and in the cerebellar cortex; such changes did not occur in the cerebral cortex. Elevation of brain PE in mice by exogenous means led to•profound rapid changes in the neurological status of the animal, with a subsequent be- havioral status resembling that brought about by isolation housing. A PE- mediated inhibition of cerebral protein synthesis was demonstrated in vitro for microsomal fractions, particularly for those derived from the cerebellar cortex. The present data have been considered with a view toward introducing PE as a potential link to inhibitory changes in the central nervous system. 4 . IIyTRODUCT I OV A reletionship between neurochemical changes and specific behaviors has been sought in several studies wherein differential housing has been the in- dependent variable (Bennett, et. al., 1964; Valzelli, 1967; Essman, 1969). 1This study was supported in part by a grant from the Council for Tobacco . Research- U.S.A., and a grant #5-$05-FR-07064-05 from the U.S. Public Health Service.