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HPNS (high pressure neurological syndrome) is considered to be reversible condition of the nervous system caused by elevated (atmospheric) pressure. Clinical observations and experimental findings gave rise to the belief that this syndrome at least partly functions as a model of a dopamin dependent psychosis. Morphological alterations during or after HPNS in man and animals have not been reported so far. We treated rats for three hours with an increasing pressure of helium-oxygen mixture up to 61 ATA in a pressure chamber. This pressure was subsequently maintained for one hour and then released to zero within twenty seconds. The rats died within the first three seconds of pressure release due to complete deoxygenation. Brains were immediately removed and either cooled in liquid nitrogen or fixed in formalin. In both instances the central nervous tissue was excellently preserved. In paraffin embedded …