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Effects of some volatile sedative-hypnotics on punished behavior
Psychopharmacology
|January 1, 1984
Summary
Sedative-hypnotic drugs like diazepam increase punished responding in rats. These drugs raise punished behavior at doses that do not affect unpunished responses, suggesting a characteristic effect.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Background:
- Operant conditioning involves schedules of reinforcement and punishment.
- Understanding drug effects on behavior is crucial for pharmacology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of sedative-hypnotic drugs on punished behavior in rats.
- To determine the relative potency of different drugs in altering punished responding.
Main Methods:
- Rats were trained on an alternating schedule of punished and unpunished lever-press responses.
- Drugs including diazepam, ethchlorvynol, chloral hydrate, tertiary-butanol, and ethanol were administered orally.
- Dose-response effects on both punished and unpunished responding were analyzed.
Main Results:
- All tested drugs dose-dependently increased punished responding.
- Unpunished responding was decreased or unaffected at doses that increased punished behavior.
- A potency ranking for increasing punished responding was established: diazepam > ethchlorvynol > chloral hydrate > tertiary-butanol > ethanol.
Conclusions:
- Increased punished behavior is a characteristic effect of sedative-hypnotic drugs.
- These findings highlight the specific behavioral effects of this drug class.