Effects of phencyclidine on shock-induced aggression in rats

The effects of phencyclidine were assessed under two distinctive paradigms. In a traditional laboratory assay where pairs of rats received intermittent foot shocks, phencyclidine at doses of 0.5 to 2.0 mg/kg decreased the number of shock-elicited fighting bouts in dose-dependent fashion. Similar dose-dependent decreases in biting were also observed under a procedure where single restrained rats received intermittent tail shocks, which evoked biting of an inanimate target.