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Effects of stimulants, anorectics, and related drugs on schedule-controlled behavior

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Abstract

The effects of nine drugs were studied in rats responding under either fixed-ratio 30 (FR-30) or fixed-interval 2-min (FI-2) schedules of food presentation. All the drugs decreased average rates of responding under both schedules in a dose-related manner, with apomorphine and clonidine being the most potent and caffeine the least potent.d-Amphetamine was about three times more potent thanl-amphetamine in decreasing responding under the FR schedule, while the two isomers were equipotent in reducing the average response rates under the FI schedule. A 10 mg/kg dose of fenfluramine decreased responding for two to three days after administration, but this treatment did not produce long-lasting changes in control performance or in the effects of the serotonergic drugs quizapine andd-paramethoxyamphetamine. The effects of the drugs on the local rates of responding during the FI may be divided into three categories: (1) those drugs that increased low rates of responding and decreased high rates of responding (rate-dependent effects) at dosages that did not markedly decrease the average response rates (d-amphetamine, methylphenidate, and cocaine); (2) those that produced rate-dependent effects only at dosages that markedly reduced average response rates (fenfluramine, quipazine, and clonidine); and (3) those that did not produce clear rate-dependent effects at any dose tested (l-amphetamine, apomorphine, and caffeine). These behavioral results are discussed in relation to their known biochemical effects on brain catecholamine and serotonin systems.

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  1. R. Adron Harris

    Present address: Department of Pharmacology, University of Missouri Medical Center, 65201, Columbia, MO, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of California, 94143, San Francisco, California, USA

    R. Adron Harris, Diane Snell & Horace H. Loh

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  2. Diane Snell
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Harris, R.A., Snell, D. & Loh, H.H. Effects of stimulants, anorectics, and related drugs on schedule-controlled behavior. Psychopharmacology 56, 49–55 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00571408

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