EFFECTS OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS ON EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR: EXPLORATORY BEHAVIOR OF NAIVE RATS IN HOLED OPEN FIELD

[摘要] References(17)Cited-By(20)Testing drugs on intact animals is considered to be the best method for investigation (1) and since there have been a few reports concerning the action of psychotropic drugs on unlearned behavior, the authors were interested in their effects on emotional behavior of animals. Hall's open-field test, the optimum conditions of which were established by Broadhurst, has been used for many years to study behavior (2-4). This test is generally accepted as a valid measure of emotion in rats. The principle of the test is that the novel situation of the open field evokes in the animal a pattern of behavior characterized by exploration (ambulation and rearing), emotional defecation and urination (5). It has been considered that the exploration evoked under an unfamiliar environment is modified with psychological factors such as curiosity, fear and anxiety as well as with psychotropic drugs (6-11). For example, chlorpromazine and reserpine produced a graded parallel reduction in all types of behavior in rats in open fields, although haloperidol and perphenazine were capable of inhibitory ambulation and rearing without ataxia (7, 12). Boissier and Simmon have investigated the effects of psychotropic drugs on head-entering behavior of mice into the holes in unlearned field (13). Thereafter, Krnjevic and Videk have presented the method of investigation of the behavior in rats confronted by a hole on the animal cage (14). In this paper a new method for investigation is presented on reference to the exploratory behavior of inexperienced rats placed in a square holed open field. The suitability of the method is examined and effects of various kind of psychotropic drugs are discussed. As a result, this method has proved to be useful for investigation of the effects of psychotropic drugs.

[学科分类] 药理学