THE INTEGRITY OF THE SOCIAL HIERARCHY IN MICE FOLLOWING ADMINISTRATION OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS
British Journal of Pharmacology – November 01, 1980
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Mice in small groups establish a rigid social hierarchy that resists change, even when exposed to psychotropic drugs like diazepam, droperidol, and mescaline. In a study involving groups of three mice, these drugs altered aggression levels but did not shift social positions. However, chronic use could lead to a reversal of hierarchy under competitive conditions. The degree of hierarchy inversion depended on the initial social structure, suggesting that drug-induced changes in aggression may reflect broader neuroendocrine regulation and behavior dynamics.
Abstract
Mice in small groups develop a despotic type of social hierarchy, a feature of which is to resist alteration through the medium of psychotropic drugs. This makes a rapid pharmacologically induced change in the social hierarchy impossible. Patrolling the territory and a certain level of social interaction are both critical factors in maintaining the phenomenon of inertia in the social hierarchy. Psychotropic drugs (diazepam, droperidol and mescaline) altered both these factors to a varying degree and also displayed a differing ability to maintain the inertia of the social hierarchy. A drug‐induced alteration in the level of aggression in a subordinate mouse in a group of three does not cause an alteration in its social position. Chronic administration of diazepam, droperidol or mescaline, all of which alter the level of aggression in different ways, can result in an inversion of the social hierarchy where a competitive rival is present in the group of mice. The rate of inversion of the social hierarachy depends on the type of pre‐existing social hierarchy. It is suggested that the ability of psychotropic drugs to maintain the inertia of the hierarchy be used as an index of their effect upon certain types of species‐specific behaviour; in particular aggression.