The Secondary Conditioned Response of Rats and the Effects of Some Psychopharmacological Agents
Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology September 1, 1959 G Maffii 58 citations
Rats trained in an avoidance task developed a secondary conditioned response. Testing seventeen drugs showed that chlorpromazine, promazine, reserpine, and morphine blocked both the primary and secondary avoidance responses at doses that did not impair motor function. Meprobamate, hydroxyzine, azacyclonol, phenaglycodol, and phenobarbitone sodium specifically suppressed only the secondary response without affecting the primary avoidance response. Mescaline and iproniazid also produced a specific depression of conditioned behavior. Barbitone sodium, glutethimide, L1458, and mephenesin inhibited conditioned responses only at neurotoxic doses. These findings suggest a new classification of tranquilizing agents and propose that studying the secondary conditioned avoidance response may be a useful experimental approach for assessing behavioral drug actions.