Abstract
d-Amphetamine sulfate and chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride, administered to either the dominant or subordinate rat, altered several components of fighting behavior in a dose-dependent biphasic manner. Stereotypic sequences of attack, threat, defense, and submission were generated between pairs of previously isolated Sprague-Dawley rats by extinction of a food-reinforced response. Low doses of amphetamine (0.05, 0.1 mg/kg) and chlordiazepoxide (2.5, 5.0 mg/kg) given i.m. to the dominant rat 30 min prior to 15 min tests increased attack bites and leaps and the display of aggressive postures and threats, whereas higher doses of both drugs (0.5, 1.0 mg/kg amphetamine; 20 mg/kg chlordiazepoxide) suppressed attacks and threats. Amphetamine and chlordiazepoxide, administered to the subordinate rat, caused a more prolonged display of submissive-supine and defensive-upright postures; chlordiazepoxide (10.0, 20.0 mg/kg) prolonged immobile crouching whereas amphetamine (0.5, 1.0 mg/kg) greatly reduced this response. Drugged subordinate rats also provoked more attacks and threats by the non-drugged opponents. The multi-response analysis of fighting reveals that various elements of aggressive and defensive-submissive behavior patterns are differentially sensitive to drug action. The results indicate that amphetamine and chlordiazepoxide can facilitate or inhibit attack or defense depending on the dose level and which of the opponents was injected, but do not reverse dominance-subordination relationships.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barnett, S. A.: A study in behaviour. Principles of ethology and behavioural physiology, displayed mainly in the rat. London: The Camelot Press 1963
Barnett, S. A.: An analysis of social behaviour in wild rats. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 130, 107–152 (1958)
Borgesova, M., Kadlecova, O., Krsiak, M.: Behaviour of untreated mice to alcohol- or chlordiazepoxide-treated partners. Activ. nerv. sup. (Praha) 13, 206–207 (1971)
Cairns, R. B., Scholz, S. D.: Fighting in mice: dyadic escalation and what is learned. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 85, 540–550 (1973)
Chance, M. R. A.: Ethology and psychopharmacology. In: Psychopharmacology. Dimensions and perspectives. C. R. B. Joyce, ed., pp. 283–318. London: Tavistock 1968
Chance, M. R. A., Silverman, A. P.: The structure of social behaviour and drug action. In: Animal behaviour and drug action. H. Steinberg, A. V. S. deReuck, and J. Knight, eds., pp. 65–79. Boston: Little Brown & Co. 1964
Christmas, A. J., Maxwell, D. R.: A comparison of the effects of some benzodiazepines and other drugs on aggressive and exploratory behaviour in mice and rats. Neuropharmacology 9, 17–29 (1970)
Cole, H. F., Wolf, H. H.: The effects of some psychotropic drugs on conditioned avoidance and aggressive behaviors. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 8, 389–396 (1966)
Cole, H. F., Wolf, H. H.: Laboratory evaluation of aggressive behavior of the grasshopper mouse (onychomys). J. pharm. Sci. 59, 969–971 (1970)
Crowley, T. J.: Dose-dependent facilitation or suppression of rat fighting by methamphetamine, phenobarbital, or imipramine. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 27, 213–222 (1972)
DaVanzo, J. P., Daugherty, M., Ruckart, R., Kang, L.: Pharmacological and biochemical studies in isolation-induced fighting mice. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 9, 210–219 (1966)
DiMascio, A.: The effects of benzodiazepines on aggression: reduced or increased? Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 30, 95–102 (1973)
Emley, G. S., Hutchinson, R. R.: Basis of behavioral influence on chlorpromazine, Life Sci. 11, 43–47 (1972)
Figler, M. H.: The effects of chlordiazepoxide (Librium) on the intensity and habituation of agonistic behavior in male Siamese fighting fish. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 33, 277–292 (1973)
Fox, K. A., Snyder, R. L.: Effect of sustained low doses of diazepam on aggression and mortality in grouped male mice. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 69, 663–666 (1969)
Fox, K. A., Tuckosh, J. R., Wilcox, A. H.: Increased aggression among grouped male mice fed chlordiazepoxide. Europ. J. Pharmacol. 11, 119–121 (1970)
Fox, K. A., Webster, J. C., Guerriero, F. J.: Increased aggression among grouped male mice fed nitrazepam and flurazepam. Pharmacol. Res. Commun. 4, 157–162 (1972)
Grant, E. C., Mackintosh, J. H.: A comparison of the social postures of some common laboratory rodents. Behaviour 21, 246–259 (1963)
Grossman, S. P., Sclafani, A.: Sympathomimetic amines. In: Pharmacological and biophysical agents and behavior. E. Furchgott, ed., pp. 269–344. New York: Academic Press 1971
Guaitani, A., Marcucci, F., Garattini, S.: Increased aggression and toxicity in grouped male mice treated with tranquilizing benzodiazepines. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 19, 241–245 (1971)
Heise, G. A., Boff, E.: Taming action of chlordiazepoxide. Fed. Proc. 20, 393 (1961)
Hoffmeister, F., Wuttke, W.: On the actions of psychotropic drugs on the attack and aggressive-defensive behaviour of mice and cats. In: Aggressive behaviour. S. Garattini and E. B. Sigg, eds., pp. 273–280. Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica Foundation 1969
Horovitz, Z. P., Ragozzino, P. W., Leaf, R. C.: Selective block of rat mouse-killing by antidepressants. Life Sci. 4, 1909–1912 (1965)
Karli, P.: Action de l'amphétamine et de la chlorpromazine sur l'aggressivité interspecifique Rat-Souris. C. R. Soc. Biol. (Paris) 152, 1796–1798 (1958)
Karli, P.: Richerches pharmacologiques sur le comportement d'aggressivité Rat-Souris. J. Physiol. (Paris) 51, 497–498 (1959)
Krsiak, M., Borgesova, M.: Effect of alcohol on behaviour of pairs of rats. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 32, 201–209 (1973)
Krsiak, M., Steinberg, H.: Psychopharmacological aspects of aggression: a review of the literature and some new experiments. J. psychosom. Res. 13, 243–252 (1969)
Lal, H., Defeo, J. J., Thut, P.: Effect of amphetamine on pain-induced aggression. Commun. Behav. Biol., Part A 1, 333–336 (1968)
Langfeldt, T., Ursin, H.: Differential action of diazepam on flight and defense behavior in the cat. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 19, 61–66 (1971)
Miczek, K. A., Barry, H.: δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol and aggressive behavior in rats. Behav. Biol. 11, 261–267 (1974)
Miczek, K. A., Brykczynski, T., Grossman, S. P.: Differential effects of lesions in the amygdala, periamygdaloid cortex, or stria terminalis on aggressive behaviors in rats. J. comp. Physiol. Psychol. (in press) (1974)
Miczek, K. A., Grossman, S. P.: Effects of septal lesions on inter- and intraspecies aggression in rats. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 79, 37–45 (1972)
Milner, G.: Modified confinement motor activity test for use in mice. J. pharm. Sci. 57, 1900–1902 (1968)
Norton, S.: Amphetamine as a model for hyperactivity in the rat. Physiol. Behav. 11, 181–186 (1973)
Panksepp, J.: Drugs and stimulus-bound attack. Physiol. Behav. 6, 317–320 (1971)
Quenzer, L. F., Feldman, R. S., Moore, J. W.: Toward a mechanism of the antiaggression effects of chlordiazepoxide in rats. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 34, 81–94 (1974)
Randall, L. O.: Pharmacology of methaminodiazepoxide. Dis. nerv. Syst. 21, 7–15 (1960)
Randall, L. O., Schallek, W.: Pharmacological activity of certain benzodiazepines. In: Psychopharmacology. A review of progress. D. H. Efron, ed., pp. 153–184. Washington, D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968
Randall, L. O., Schallek, W., Heise, G. A., Keith, E. F., Bagdon, R. E.: The psychosedative properties of methaminodiazepoxide. J. Pharmacol. exp. Ther. 129, 163–171 (1960)
Randrup, A., Munkvad, I.: Relation of brain catecholamines to aggressiveness and other forms of behavioural excitation. In: Aggressive behaviour. S. Garattini and E. B. Sigg, eds., pp. 228–235. Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica Foundation 1969
Richardson, D., Karczmar, A. G., Scudder, C. L.: Intergeneric behavioral differences among methamphetamine treated mice. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 25, 347–375 (1972)
Scheckel, C. L., Boff, E.: Effects of drugs on aggressive behavior in monkeys. Excerpta Medica International Congress Series 129, 789–795 (1966)
Sheard, M. H.: The effects of amphetamine on attack behavior in the cat. Brain Res. 5, 330–338 (1967)
Siegel, S.: Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. New York: McGraw Hill 1956
Silverman, A. P.: Behaviour of rats given a “smoking dose” of nicotine. Anim. Behav. 19, 67–74 (1971)
Silverman, A. P.: Ethological and statistical analysis of drug effects on the social behaviour of laboratory rats. Brit. J. Pharmacol. 24, 579–590 (1965)
Sofia, R. D.: Structural relationship and potency of agents which selectively block mouse killing (muricide) behavior in rats. Life Sci. 8, 1201–1210 (1969)
Spigel, I. M., Trivett, S., Fraser, D.: Grooming behavior and competitive dominance in the albino rat. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 78, 409–411 (1972)
Stark, P., Henderson, J. K.: Differentiation of classes of neurosedatives using rats with septal lesions. Int. J. Neuropharmacolog. 5, 385–389 (1966)
Tedeschi, D. H., Fowler, P. J., Cromley, W. H., Paulis, J. F., Eby, R. Z., Fellows, E. J.: Effects of centrally acting drugs on confinement of motor activity. J. pharm. Sci. 53, 1046–1058 (1964)
Valzelli, L.: Activity of benzodiazepines on aggressive behavior in rats and mice. In: The benzodiazepines. S. Garattini, E. Mussini, and L. O. Randall eds., pp. 405–417. New York: Raven Press 1973
Valzelli, L.: Drugs and aggressiveness. Advanc. Pharmacol. 5, 79–108 (1967)
Valzelli, L., Giacalone, E., Garattini, S.: Pharmacological control of aggressive behavior in mice. Europ. J. Pharmacol. 2, 144–146 (1967)
Welch, B. L., Welch, A. S.: Aggression and the biogenic amine neurohumors. In: Aggressive behaviour. S. Garattini and E. B. Sigg, eds., pp. 188–202. Amsterdam. Excerpta Medica Foundation 1969
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miczek, K.A. Intraspecies aggression in rats: Effects of d-amphetamine and chlordiazepoxide. Psychopharmacologia 39, 275–301 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422968
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422968