Abstract
Chlorpromazine, morphine, meprobamate, phenobarbital, reserpine and physiological saline affect differently conditioned avoidance behavior in dogs highly resistant to extinction. Of the drugs tested only chlorpromazine, perphenazine and reserpine showed marked behavioral specificity in that the conditioned responses were blocked in doses causing minimal to no neurological deficit. In contrast morphine showed very minimal depressant effects on avoidance behavior. Saline had no effect. It is suggested that overlearning is an important variable in dissociating the effects of chlorpromazine and morphine on conditioned avoidance behavior.
Meprobamate and phenobarbital in large doses producing neurologic deficit blocked escape responses to average electric shocks of 0.7 mA almost as much as these agents blocked avoidance responses. Although meprobamate and phenobarbital showed some similarities, definite differences were noted in that average shocking currents of 3.5 mA and 7.0 mA better dissociated avoidance from escape behavior after meprobamate than after phenobarbital.
Footnotes
- Received September 4, 1962.
- Accepted April 22, 1963.
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