What was going on when I was born?

INJECTIONS of a synthetic substance made for studies of the chemistry of human emotion have produced severe anxiety in monkeys within seconds. The animals became agitated, their hair rose, they squirmed and they displayed other outward signs of extreme alarm. These effects could be quickly halted by other chemicals. Scientists have known for years that drugs such as the benzodiazepines Librium and Valium can lessen anxiety. But the ability to create such a pure state almost instantly with a drug alone is new and unexpected, according to scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md. ''For the first time we may have a reasonable understanding of the biochemistry of anxiety,'' Dr. Steven M. Paul of the institute said recently. He referred not only to his own work, but a whole body of new research at many scientific centers.

International A decision to increase lending by the leading industrial countries to nations with acute debt problems was praised by Jacques de Larosiere, the top official of the International Monetary Fund. But, in opening the fund's annual meeting, he urged a speedy implementation of the program to ''assure the stability of the international financial system.'' (Page A1, Col. 6.) An Arab League conference opened in Fez, Morocco. The Arab leaders are expected to focus on the plight of the Palestinians after their military rout by the Israelis in Lebanon. (A1:3.)

The director of a leading pro-Israeli lobbying organization in Washington said today there was ''a lot of value'' in President Reagan's Middle East initiative. The lobbyist, Thomas A. Dine, the executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, openly differed with Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the Israeli Cabinet, which rejected the Reagan plan.. He said the key to its success would be whether Jordan agreed to join the Palestinian autonomy talks with Israel, Egypt and the United States. In an interview, Mr. Dine said that ''there were many constructive points'' in Mr. Reagan's plan and that ''it has been very well received by the American population.'' ''I can assume that members of Congress, who will be returning from recess to Washington this week, will also receive it in the same way,'' Mr. Dine said.

One expert on international affairs has an unorthodox proposal to slow the hand of any President who might be tempted to unleash a nuclear attack. It has long been feared that a President could be making his fateful decision while at a ''psychological distance'' from the victims of a nuclear barrage; that he would be in a clean, air-conditioned room, surrounded by well-scrubbed aides, all talking in abstract terms about appropriate military responses in an international crisis, and that he might well push to the back of his mind the realization that hundreds of millions of people would be exterminated. So Roger Fisher, professor of law at Harvard University, offers a simple suggestion to make the stakes more real. He would put the codes needed to fire nuclear weapons in a little capsule, and implant the capsule next to the heart of a volunteer, who would carry a big butcher knife as he accompanied the President everywhere. If the President ever wanted to fire nuclear weapons, he would first have to kill, with his own hands, that human being. ''He has to look at someone and realize what death is - what an innocent death is. It's reality brought home, '' says Professor Fisher.

Government officials and bankers attending meetings of the International Monetary Fund here fully recognize that the world financial system has been undergoing the greatest peril of the postwar period, but say they feel that the danger of a collapse has now been warded off. The apparent success of the United States and the International Monetary Fund in assembling rescue programs that have involved private banks as well as public institutions has encouraged the belief here that similar rescues would be conducted to prevent defaults by other debt-laden countries. However, there are are still worries about the adequacy of funds that can be made available to keep nations from insolvency. The potential list of casualties is long and the total of their foreign debts by the end of this year is likely to exceed $500 billion, with Mexico, at $81 billion, the biggest debtor.

Mexico has decided to suspend all principal payments on its huge foreign debt until the end of next year, but will use its oil revenues to keep up interest payments falling due over the next 17 months. The disclosure by Finance Minister Jesus Silva Herzog came just two weeks after the world's leading private banks agreed to accept a 90-day postonement in repayment of principal. It was not immediately known whether the new extension had been approved by Mexico's major creditors. Foreign bank representatives here said they had not been informed of the latest decision, which was disclosed at a private news conference for Mexican reporters in Toronto, where Mr. Silva Herzog is attending the joint annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The Federal Reserve Board has passed another hurdle in its battle against inflation and its struggle for credibility. The recent drop in interest rates - with some falling five or six percentage points - has put a nervous financial community at ease. With the loosening of monetary policy since June, the nation's central bank has taken pressure off a shaky financial system and, in the opinion of even some pessimistic economists, has opened the door to an economic recovery, even if it is to be a modest one. But, more important, the Fed has mananged the easing without sparking fear in the financial markets that it would pump up the money supply, abandoning the fight against inflation for the sake of a recovery.

Organized labor, battling to regain political influence, has sharply increased its contributions to House and Senate candidates at a time when donations from corporations have been growing only modestly. Reports to the Federal Election Commission by 17 of the largest union-related political action committees show that their receipts increased 39 percent and their contributions to candidates 21 percent in the first six months of 1982 as against the first six months of 1980. For 15 of the largest corporation-related political action committees, however, receipts grew 10 percent and contributions 5 percent. Such political-action committee money goes mostly to Republicans; almost all labor-related gifts go to Democrats.

New brick buildings are sprouting up all over one corner of a 5,200-acre field here, 40 miles southwest of Taipei. Workmen are marching in every direction through half-finished offices and apartments. The smell of mortar and plaster is heavy in the air. The sound of hammers, it seems, can be heard down every hallway. These are the sights, sounds and smells of an economy being restructured. That, at least, is the hope of the Government of Taiwan.

The Federal Government has sharply reduced the amount of money available to finance the desegregation of public schools in many big cities this year. With students returning to classes, local officials are expressing deep concern about the cuts, saying they would jeopardize recent progress in school desegregation. Fern M. Lapidus, Washington representative of the New York City Board of Education, said that the city, which received $10 million for school desegregation projects in the 1980-81 school year and $6.2 million in 1981-82, was scheduled to receive $9,000 for such projects under its block grant in the new school year. New York has the nation's largest public school system, with an enrollment of 930,000 children, of whom 70 percent are members of racial or ethnic minority groups.

AN aging population, in which a declining proportion of adults have children enrolled in the public schools, poses a growing problem for public education. The demographic statistics could have dire consequences for the public schools during the 1980's as they seek support for bond issues and budgets, as well as for programs generally. Adults with youngsters in the public schools made up 39 percent of the population in the early 1970's, but the number is down to 27 percent now, according to the Gallup Organization. There are more young adults with fewer children or no children at all, and the proportion of the population that is over 65 increased between 1960 and 1981 from 9.3 percent to 11.5 percent. Even the rising divorce rate is a factor as many absentee fathers of schoolaged children no longer feel linked to the communities in which their youngsters attend school.

The Bendix Corporation announced yesterday that about 58 percent of the outstanding shares of the Martin Marietta Corporation had been tendered to Bendix, well more than were sought under its $1.5 billion takeover bid. ''The results are a clear referendum by Martin Marietta shareholders in favor of the Bendix offer,'' William Agee, Bendix's chairman, said in a prepared statement. ''Their shareholders have spoken decisively and positively with their action.''