Analysis of behavioral effects of drugs

Abstract

Behavioral pharmacology has largely replaced explanations of the behavioral effects of drugs in terms of hypothetical constructs with descriptions of the environmental or behavioral factors that modify drug effects and by characterization of behavioral mechanisms of drug action. The qualitative and quantitative modulation of behavioral effects of drugs by current and past behavioral and environmental variables has been amply demonstrated. However, fewer studies have been directed toward elucidation of behavioral mechanisms of drug action. The concept of behavioral mechanism implies that drugs can alter behavior in a manner functionally equivalent to the manner in which other variables alter behavior. Owing to the complexity of the determinants of behavior, a host of tactics is required for a comprehensive analysis of the behavioral effects of drugs. Detailed understanding of the various interpretations associated with the results of descriptive and mechanistic studies is essential to the development of adequate accounts of the manner in which drugs affect behavior. Studies elucidating the behavioral or environmental factors that influence the behavioral effects of drugs as well as studies of behavioral mechanisms of drug action may aid other disciplines within pharmacology and the neurosciences by ultimately pinpointing specific behavioral substrates of drug action. This information should greatly facilitate further investigations of the link between behavior and physiological processes as well as provide rational bases for drug development.

In vitro and in vivo studies in rats with LY293558 suggest AMPA/kainate receptor blockade as a novel potential mechanism for the therapeutic treatment of anxiety disorders

“…Chlordiazepoxide increased rates of nonpunished responding, an effect reported previously by a number of investigators (see Witkin and Katz 1990 for a summary and discussion). In addition, chlordiazepoxide has been reported to increase feeding in rats (Bainbridge 1968;Witkin and Leander 1982), although chlordiazepoxide did not significantly increase food consumption in the present study at the dose that was active in the punishment experiment.…”

Behavioral effects of nicotine, amphetamine and cocaine under a fixed-interval schedule of food reinforcement in rats chronically exposed to caffeine

“…A fixed interval (FI) schedule of food reinforcement was used as a behavioral measure. As schedule-controlled behavior is a task that involves learning and memory, with predictable day-today rates and temporal patterns of behavioral responding in individual subjects, it provides a useful baseline against which the effects of drugs may be evaluated (Sanger and Blackman 1989;Swedberg et al 1990;Witkin and Katz 1990;Cory-Slechta 1992). In the present experiment, rats were continuously exposed to caffeine added to the drinking water, while a control group was maintained on tap water.…”

Punishing and cardiovascular effects of intravenous histamine in rats: Pharmacological selectivity

“…More generally, the similar effects of decreasing histamine dose and increasing the doses of the antagonists speak to behavioral mechanisms of drug action, which can be described as drug effects that produce changes in behavior that are similar in form to the behavioral effects of environmental manipulations (see Witkin & Katz, , for a discussion). Behavioral mechanisms of drug action were demonstrated in the present study when the effects of pyrilamine and ketotifen as pretreatments are compared to the effects of manipulating the magnitude of the punisher through changes in histamine dose.…”