ABSTRACT
When rats are placed in a situation that has come to be associated with footshock through the process of Pavlovian conditioning, they react with the species-specific defensive response of freezing and a reduction in sensitivity to painful stimulation. In the present experiments, the effects of three benzodiazepines on both of these responses were examined. Pain sensitivity was measured with the formalin test. Concurrent observations of formalin-induced recuperative behavior and freezing were recorded while the animals were in the presence of shock-associated contextual stimuli. It was found that midazolam (Experiments 1 and 2), chlordiazepoxide (Experiment 3), and diazepam (Experiment 4) were capable of significantly attenuating the conditional analgesia. Midazolam and diazepam also reduced the freezing response. The finding that these anxiolytic agents attenuate both conditional responses suggests that the freezing and analgesia are mediated by a common fearlike process.
Subject(s)
Benzodiazepines/pharmacology , Conditioning, Classical/physiology , Fear/physiology , Pain/physiopathology , Shivering/drug effects , Animals , Conditioning, Classical/drug effects , Cytidine Diphosphate/pharmacology , Defense Mechanisms/drug effects , Diazepam/pharmacology , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Electroshock , Fear/drug effects , Female , Midazolam/pharmacology , RatsABSTRACT
A woman who had appeared suitable for psychoanalysis was persistently unable to develop an analyzable transference. Her history, as it unfolded during analysis, suggested a form of atypical depression linked to a neurochemical abnormality, which appeared to be related to her reluctance to take the emotional risk involved in examining transference phenomena. The analysis was modified by a trial of phenelzine. Changes within the analysis and in the patient's private life after the drug trial ended support the hypothesis that her affective vulnerability had inhibited her ability to engage in analysis of transference before the administration of the drug.
Subject(s)
Depressive Disorder/drug therapy , Phenelzine/therapeutic use , Psychoanalytic Therapy , Transference, Psychology , Adult , Defense Mechanisms/drug effects , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Female , Humans , Phenelzine/pharmacology , Psychoanalytic InterpretationABSTRACT
The relative specificity and potency of action of 32 neuropsychotropic drugs was assessed on attacks, defensive upright postures and escapes occurring in singly-housed male mice during interactions with non-aggressive strange males. Scopolamine was most potent in reducing attacks while apomorphine was most active in stimulating attacks. Defenses and escapes were inhibited most efficiently by pentobarbital and diazepam, while L-tryptophan was most active of the tested drugs in stimulating defenses and escapes. Aminooxyacetic acid and valproate inhibited both attack and defensive-escape behavior at relatively low doses. Inhibition of attacks by many drugs tested could be explained by anticholinergic, serotonergic or gabaergic effects while stimulation of attacks may be due to dopaminergic effects. Gabaergic drug actions seem to inhibit while serotonergic effects might stimulate defenses and escapes.
Subject(s)
Aggression/drug effects , Autonomic Agents/pharmacology , Central Nervous System Agents/pharmacology , Central Nervous System Depressants/pharmacology , Defense Mechanisms/drug effects , Animals , Escape Reaction/drug effects , Humans , Male , MiceABSTRACT
Previous research had shown that the anticholinergic drug, scopolamine, decreased innate defensive responses of rats to a live cat or mechanical robot, and that the effects of scopolamine were attributable to actions of the drug on the central nervous system. In the present research, the anticholinesterase, physostigmine, which increases central cholinergic activity, caused an increase in the defense responses of male hooded rats. Physostigmine caused significantly more freezing and significantly more suppression of feeding and suppression of time near the aversive stimulus (ROBOT). Dose-response curves showed a positive, linear relationship between dose (0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg) of physostigmine and defense responses. The present results could not be attributed to general response suppression since the effects of physostigmine were situation-specific, i.e., the drug had no significant effect on behavior in the non-aversive or NO ROBOT condition. The present results were taken as further evidence of the involvement of cholinergic activity in the mediation of defense responses. The effects of cholinergic and anticholinergic drugs on the observable defense response of freezing were thought to have important implications for the large literature relating these drugs and avoidance responding.
Subject(s)
Defense Mechanisms/drug effects , Fear/drug effects , Physostigmine/pharmacology , Aggression/drug effects , Animals , Feeding Behavior/drug effects , Habituation, Psychophysiologic/drug effects , Humans , Rats , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Chronic experiments were conducted on rats and rabbits; a study was made of the effect of carbidine on the conditioned defence reflexes in stimulation of the mesencephalic part of the reticular formation. Carbidine prevented the depression of the conditioned defence reflexes caused by stimulation of the mesencephalic portion of the reticular formation. This pointed to its depressive influence on the mentioned structures, and was confirmed by experiments on rabbits in recording changes in biocurrents under conditions of stimulation of the mesencephalic reticular formation.
