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Show .Scientists Find Nerve Chemical CHICAGO (AP) Four University Uni-versity of Utah scientists said today they have evidence of the identity of a previously unknown chemical involved in inhibition of nerves in the central nervous system. DR. DON W. Esplin, associate professor of pharmacology at the university and director of the investigation, explained the group's findings in a report to the annual meeting of the American Amer-ican Federation of Biology. Dr. Esplin said that inhibiting chemicals act to keep nervous impulses in channels. "IF THERE were no inhibitors," inhibi-tors," he said, "nerve impulses would travel through the nervous ner-vous system all over the body, just as a single telephone call over wires without insulation would ring every telephone in town." Dr. Esplin and his group discovered dis-covered that a chemical called acetylcholine interacts with strychnine stry-chnine an with other drugs that block inhibition. THIS, he said, indicates that acetylcholine, if not the actual inhibitory substance, is probably at least responsible for releasing releas-ing the inhibitor. Dr. Esplin said discovery ot the chemical responsible for inhibiting in-hibiting the central nervous system sys-tem could be of value in treating treat-ing mental disorders and such brain iseases as cerebral palsy and Parkinson's disease. However, he said at least 10 years of research probably will be required before the chemical Is definitely identified. identi-fied. Participating with Dr. Esplin in the program are Dr. J. K. Williams Wil-liams and Dr. Barbara Bablocka, also of the pharmacology department depart-ment in the university's College . of Medicine; and Roger K. Fer-: Fer-: guson, a third-year medical student |