Cesium attenuates conditioned avoidance response in rats and mice

The pole-climbing conditioned avoidance response (CAR) was attenuated in rats after four once-daily injections of CsCl intraperitoneally at 3.0 mEq kg-1 and in mice after seven such injections at 5.0 mEq kg-1. Suppression of CAR increased with increasing numbers of injections. Treatment with cesium did not attenuate the unconditioned pole-climbing escape response to mild footshock. The cesium effect on CAR resembles that of antidopaminergic phenothiazine like agents, in concordance with our earlier studies which showed cesium potentiation of pentobarbital sleeping time and antagonism of amphetamine toxicity.