Discriminative stimulus properties of phenylisopropylamine derivatives

The phenylisopropylamine unit is a common structural fragment amongst many centrally-acting agents. However, these agents do not necessarily produce similar behavioral effects in test subjects. For example, the phenylisopropylamine derivative amphetamine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant whereas its 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methyl analog, i.e. DOM, is considered to be a hallucinogen. Employing animals trained to discriminate either (+)-amphetamine or (+/-)-DOM from saline in a two-lever operant procedure, stimulus generalization studies were conducted to evaluate members of a series of methoxy-substituted, and related, phenylisopropylamines. In this manner, it was possible to classify these agents as to which produced amphetamine-like effects, and which produced DOM-like effects.