Mescaline treated rats attack immobile targets

Rats in a shock-induced aggression test attacked moving targets most, such as another normal rat, and did not attack immobile targets like a dead rat or a rat model. Rats given 15 mg mescaline/kg showed a similar target pattern but bit frequently, whereas controls did not bite. Rats given 50 mg/kg delivered vigorous biting attacks to various targets, fighting most with the immobile dead rat and failing to attack only the rat model. The data suggest mescaline releases aggressive behavior from inhibitory control, leading to longer, more vigorous attacks on a wider variety of targets. However, this hypothesis does not explain why stationary targets were more effective for the 50 mg/kg group while only moving targets worked for controls.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Rats were exposed to a series of targets in a shock induced aggression situation. Control rats fought most with moving targets, such as another normal rat, and did not attack immobile targets, such as a dead rat or a rat model. Rats treated with 15 mg mescaline/kg showed a similar pattern of target control though they bit frequently while controls did not bite. Rats treated with 50 mg/kg delivered vigorous biting attacks to a variety of targets but fought most with the immobile dead rat. They failed to attack only the rat model. Much of the data were consistent with the hypothesis that mescaline releases aggressive behavior from inhibitory control, leading to longer and more vigorous attacks on a wider variety of targets. This hypothesis, however, failed to explain why stationary targets were more effective for animals treated with 50 mg mescaline/kg while only moving targets were effective for controls.