Tryptophan and tonic immobility in chickens: effects of dietary and systemic manipulations

Consistent with a serotonergic-midbrain raphe model of tonic immobility, four experiments designed to affect changes in serum tryptophan produced reliable effects on the duration of the response in chickens. Systemic injections of tryptophan, the dietary precursor to serotonin, led to a dose-dependent increase in immobility, with optimal effects being observed within 30 min after injection. Dietary depletion of endogenous tryptophan served to attenuate the duration of immobility, and a diet completely free of tryptophan, but supplemented with niacin, practically abolished the reaction. Dietary replacement served to reinstate the response. In a fifth experiment, tryptamine, an alternative metabolic by-product of tryptophan, was found to have no effect on immobility. The data are discussed in light of evidence showing serotonergic involvement in tonic immobility.