The concentration of glutamate in cerebral tissue as a factor for the assessment of the emotional state before death. A preliminary report

In this paper the concentration of glutamate in the hemispheres of the brai n, the cerebellum and the brain stems of rats exposed to sensory stimulatio n before death and of control rats are presented, Statistically significant differences in the concentration of this neurotransmitter were found in th e hemispheres of the brain in the cases of stress lasting 10 min and 1 min and in the cerebellum after a stress of 10 min. This suggests that it ma be possible to diagnose the post-mortem state of emotional tension related to sensoric aversive input which takes place directly before death.