Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-17T02:50:45.141Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychoactive drug effect on behavioural changes induced by prolonged socio-environmental deprivation in rats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

L. Valzelli  and
S. Bernasconi
L. Valzelli*
Affiliation:
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Milan
S. Bernasconi
Affiliation:
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Milan
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr L. Valzelli, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Via Eritrea 62–20157 Milan, Italy.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

Several so-called ‘non-specific’ or ‘non-drug’ factors are known to interfere with the response to psychotropic drug administration. Animal emotionality has been reported to change the outcome of psychoactive drug administration, so that the response to a stimulant or depressant drug may considerably change according to the baseline state of activity of the central nervous system. Prolonged socio-environmental deprivation or isolation has been shown to produce in rats three different types of abnormal behaviour which have been tentatively defined as ‘friendly’, ‘indifferent’ and ‘muricide’. Such unusual changes in rat behaviour are assumed to reflect a series of different emotional changes. The present experiments show that psychoactive drugs can exert a different effect in relation to the different kinds of animal behaviour used in the experiments. The investigation of the properties of psychoactive compounds, as performed in experimental animals showing behavioural alterations, is then suggested as being more fruitful in providing much information closer to the clinical results than that achieved with the experiments performed in normal laboratory animals.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , May 1976 , pp. 271 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Balazs, T., Murphy, J. B. & Grice, H. C. (1962). The influence of environmental changes on the cardiotoxicity of isoprenaline in rats. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 14, 750–755.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baumel, I., DeFeo, J. J. & Lal, H. (1969). Decreased potency of CNS depressants after prolonged social isolation in mice. Psychopharmacologia 15, 153–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chance, M. R. A. (1946). Aggregation as a factor influencing the toxicity of sympathomimetic amines in mice. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 87, 214–219.Google ScholarPubMed
Chance, M. R. A. (1947). Factors influencing the toxicity of sympathominetic amines to solitary mice. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 89, 289–296.Google Scholar
Consolo, S., Garattini, S. & Valzelli, L. (1965 a). Amphetamine toxicity in aggressive mice. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 17, 53–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Consolo, S., Garattini, S. & Valzelli, L. (1965 b). Sensitivity of aggressive mice to centrally acting drugs. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 17, 594–595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feldman, P. E. (1962). An analysis of the efficacy of diazepam. Journal of Neuropsychiatry 3, suppl. 1, 62–67.Google Scholar
Fisher, S. (1970). Non-specific factors as determinants of behavioural response to drugs. In Di Mascio, A. & Shader, R. I. (eds.), Clinical Handbook of Psychopharmacology. Science House: New York.Google Scholar
Gregory, K. (1968). The action of the drug prenylamine (Segontin) on exploratory activity in strains of rats selectively bred for differences in emotionality. Psychopharmacologia 13, 29–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gupta, B. D. & Holland, H. C. (1969). An examination of the effects of stimulant and depressant drugs on escape/avoidance conditioning in strains of rats selectively bred for emotionality/non-emotionality. Psychopharmacologia 14, 95–105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holland, H. C. & Gupta, B. D. (1966). The effects of different doses of methylpentynol on escape/avoidance conditioning in two strains. Psychopharmacologia 9, 419–425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hollister, L. E., Motzenbecker, F. P. & Degan, R. O. (1961). Withdrawal reactions from chlordiazepoxide (Librium). Psychopharmacologia 2, 63–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ingram, I. M. & Timbury, G. D. (1960). Side-effects of librium. Lancet ii, 766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, D. M. & Steinberg, H. (1970). Long-term isolation in rats reduces morphine response. Nature 228, 469–471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelleher, R. T. & Morse, W. H. (1968). Determinants of the specificity of behavioural effects of drugs. Ergebnisse der Physiologie, biologischen Chemie und experimentellen Pharmakologie 60, 1–56.Google ScholarPubMed
Lasagna, L. & Epstein, L. C. (1970). The use of amphetamines in the treatment of hyperkinetic children. In Costa, E. & Garattini, S. (eds.), Amphetamines and Related Compounds. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Lasagna, L. & McCann, W. P. (1957). Effects of tranquilizing drugs on amphetamine toxicity in aggregated mice. Science 125, 1241–1242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNair, D. M., Fisher, S., Kahn, R. J. & Droppleman, L. F. (1970 a). Drug-personality interaction in intensive outpatient treatment. Archives of General Psychiatry 22, 128–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNair, D. M., Fisher, S., Sussman, C., Droppleman, L. F. & Kahn, R. J. (1970 b). Persistence of a drug-personality interaction in psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Psychiatric Research 7, 299–305.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mollenauer, S., Plotnik, R. & Snyder, E. (1973). Scopolamine effects dependent upon pretreatment level of emotionality. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 1, 509–514.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rushton, R. & Steinberg, H. (1966). Combined effects of chlordiazepoxide and dexamphetamine on activity of rats in an unfamiliar environment. Nature 211, 1312–1313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salzman, C., Kochansky, G. E., Shader, R. I., Porrino, L. J., Harmatz, J. S. & Swett, C. R. (1974). Chlordiaz-epoxide-induced hostility in a small group setting. Archives of General Psychiatry 31, 401–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sparber, S. B. & Tilson, H. A. (1971). Environmental influences upon drug-induced suppression of operant behaviour. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 179, 1–9.Google Scholar
Sparber, S. B., Tilson, H. A. & Peterson, D. W. (1973). Environmental influences upon morphine or d-amphetamine induced suppression of operant behaviour. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 1, 133–136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tobin, J. M. & Lewis, N. D. C. (1960). New psychotherapeutic agent, chlordiazepoxide: use in treatment of anxiety states and related symptoms. Journal of the American Medical Association 174, 1242–1249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valzelli, L. (1969). The exploratory behaviour in normal and aggressive mice. Psychopharmacologia 15, 232–235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valzelli, L. (1971 a). Aggresivité chez le rat et la souris: aspects comportementaux et biochimiques. Actualités Pharmacologiques 23, 133–152.Google Scholar
Valzelli, L. (1971 b). Further aspects of the exploratory behaviour in aggressive mice. Psychopharmacologia 19, 91–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valzelli, L. (1973 a). The ‘isolation syndrome’ in mice. Psychopharmacologia 31, 305–320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valzelli, L. (1973 b). Activity of benzodiazepines on aggressive behaviour in rats and mice. In Garattini, S., Mussini, E. & Randall, L. O. (eds.), The Benzodiazepines. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Valzelli, L. (1976). Social experience as a determinant of normal behaviour and drug effect. In Iversen, L. L., lversen, S. D. & Snyder, S. H. (eds.), Handbook of Psychopharmacology. Plenum Press: New York.Google Scholar
Valzelli, L. & Bernasconi, S. (1971). Differential activity of some psychotropic drugs as a function of emotional level in animals. Psychopharmacologia 20, 91–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valzelli, L., Bernasconi, S. & Gomba, P. (1974). Effect of isolation on some behavioural aspects of three strains of mice. Biological Psychiatry 9, 329–334.Google Scholar
Valzelli, L. & Garattini, S. (1972). Biochemical and behavioural changes induced by isolation in rats. Neuropharmacology 11, 17–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valzelli, L., Giacalone, E. & Garattini, S. (1967). Pharmacological control of aggressive behaviour in mice. European Journal of Pharmacology 2, 144–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilder, J. (1967). Stimulus and Response: the Law of Initial Value. Wright: Bristol.Google Scholar