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Blocking of the cortically induced behavioral attention (orienting) response by chlorpromazine

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Summary

  1. 1.

    The behavioral arousal associated with contralateral searching movements (the attention or orienting response) induced by cerebral cortical stimulation in unanesthetized cats was blocked by low doses of chlorpromazine (0.5 mg/kg i.p.) Amounts of 2 mg/kg, or more, were usually required to depress the similar response elicited from amygdaloid and intralaminar thalamic nuclei, whereas the threshold for the behavioral arousal evoked by midbrain reticular stimulation remained essentially unaltered with doses up to 10 mg/kg.

  2. 2.

    Behavioral arousal associated with fear (flight) or anger produced by posterior hypothalamic, thalamic, or midbrain reticular stimulation was almost unaltered at doses of 10 to 15 mg/kg of chlorpromazine.

  3. 3.

    It is concluded that chlorpromazine exerts a selective depressant action on certain behavioral arousal reactions. The arousal related to the attention (orienting) response evoked by cortical, intralaminar thalamic, amygdaloid, and peripheral sensory stimulation is more susceptible to the drug than is the arousal associated with fear (flight) and anger elicited from the subcortical areas mentioned.

  4. 4.

    The clinical implications of the findings are briefly discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurophysiological Laboratory at the Anatomical Institute, University of Oslo, Norway

    Birger B. Kaada & Helge Bruland

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  1. Birger B. Kaada
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  2. Helge Bruland
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Sponsored in part by the Norwegian Research Council for Science and Humanities, and in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research of the Air Research and Development Command, United States Air Force, through its European Office, under contract AF 61(S14)-1127.

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Kaada, B.B., Bruland, H. Blocking of the cortically induced behavioral attention (orienting) response by chlorpromazine. Psychopharmacologia 1, 372–388 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00441185

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