Inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production selectively impairs learning and memory in the rat.

Animals administered the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor N-w-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (NAME) for five days exhibited severe deficits in acquisition of a place-navigation learning task. The effect of NAME was selective to place-navigation learning. NAME had no effect on sensorimotor or motivational processes in a related task. These results are consistent with the view that NO participates in learning and execution of memory tasks.