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Behavioral Analysis of Anxiolytic Drug Action

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Experimental Psychopharmacology

Part of the book series: Contemporary Neuroscience ((CNEURO))

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Abstract

Among the drugs used clinically for their antianxiety (anxiolytic) properties are to be found a wide variety of chemically heterogeneous compounds, which include, as most prominent classes, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, alcohol, and propanediol derivatives. They are among the most widely used (and sometimes abused) drugs, and within less than 20 yr, they have generated an impressive number of papers and symposia dealing with their chemistry, pharmacology, metabolism, structure—activity relationships, and clinical properties. Because benzodiazepine derivatives are the most commonly prescribed anxiolytics, this chapter will focus principally on their behavioral effects.

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  1. Robert Dantzer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Psychiatric Research Division, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

    Andrew J. Greenshaw  & Colin T. Dourish  & 

  2. Merck, Sharpe, & Dohme Research Laboratories, Neuroscience Centre, Harlow, UK

    Colin T. Dourish

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Dantzer, R. (1987). Behavioral Analysis of Anxiolytic Drug Action. In: Greenshaw, A.J., Dourish, C.T. (eds) Experimental Psychopharmacology. Contemporary Neuroscience. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-461-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-461-0_6

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-5201-4

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