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Desmethylimipramine (DMI) counteracts learned helplessness in rats

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Abstract

In a study of the mechanisms controlling the learned helplessness phenomenon, rats were exposed to either inescapable preshocks or control procedures, treated with one of three dosages of desmethylimipramine, and tested for later adaptive responding. This catecholamine modulator attenuated the deficits in escape responding that ordinarily follow prior exposure to inescapable preshocks, and it did so in a dose-dependent fashion. These findings support the position that the learned helplessnes phenomenon is mediated by catecholamine changes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Isotope Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    Alan I. Leshner, Helga Remler, Anat Biegon & David Samuel

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  1. Alan I. Leshner
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  2. Helga Remler
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  3. Anat Biegon
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  4. David Samuel
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Leshner, A.I., Remler, H., Biegon, A. et al. Desmethylimipramine (DMI) counteracts learned helplessness in rats. Psychopharmacology 66, 207–208 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427633

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427633

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