A convenient and sensitive method has been developed for measuring changes in protein synthesis in discrete areas of the brain and pituitary of conscious freely moving rats. A single injection of high-concentration low-specific activity L-[35S]methionine is given to flood amino acid precursor pools, thereby equalizing the specific activity of the L-[35S]methionine throughout the tissue. Unincorporated L-[35S]methionine is removed from cryostat sections by treatment with perchloric acid (2%) before quantitative autoradiography. The sensitivity of this technique is demonstrated by the detection of changes in protein synthesis in regions of the brain and pituitary after systemic administration of interleukin-1 beta, a cytokine that has centrally mediated effects but which is not thought to cross the blood-brain barrier. Areas of the brain found to exhibit significant increases in protein synthesis were the subfornical organ, the choroid plexus, the medial habenular, the dentate gyrus, and the anterior and posterior lobes of the pituitary. In the brain, the cingulate cortex and the pineal gland showed significant decreases in the rate of protein synthesis.