Mescaline produces pathological aggression in rats regardless of age or strain
Robert J. Sbordone, Joseph A. Wingard, Mark L. Elliott, John P. Jervey
Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior May 1, 1978 DOI: 10.1016/0091-3057(78)90385-4 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractOlder rats fought more frequently, longer, and more intensely than younger rats regardless of strain. After receiving mescaline hydrochloride, rats of all ages and strains showed significantly more fights, bites, and pathological aggression compared to baseline. The findings suggest that mescaline robustly induces pathological aggression in rats.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Sprague-Dawley, Wistar, and Long-Evans rats aged 40-50, 90-110, and 180-200 days |
| Intervention | Mescaline hydrochloride |
| Topics | Mescaline |
| Keywords | Aggression Pathological Biting Physiology |
| Citations | 12 |
| Key finding | Mescaline administration significantly increased fights, biting, and pathological aggression in rats across all ages and strains. |
Abstract
Several measures of aggressive behavior were investigated in three ages (40-50, 90-110, and 180-200 days old) and in three strains (Sprague-Dawley, Wistar, and Long-Evans) of rats before and following the administration of mescaline hydrochloride in a shock-elicited aggression situation. The measures included the number of fights, duration of fighting, latency of fighting, number of bites inflicted, and a composite index of pathological aggression. During predrug baseline testing it was found that older rats, regardess of strain, engaged in more frequent fights that were longer in duration and more intense than younger animals. When the animals were tested with mescaline, they engaged in significantly more fights, biting, and pathological aggression than during baseline testing regardless of their age of strain. These results suggest that mescaline-induced pathological aggression in rats is a robust phenomenon.