Abstract
Lithium in moderate doses seems to have little effect on the normal activities of laboratory rodents, but it does prevent some kinds of hyperactivity, especially repetitive movements which involve the whole body. High levels of such activities were induced by appropriately combining drug administrations, the animals previous experience and the kind of environment in which they were tested. Pretreatment with lithium and also with α-methyl-para-tyrosine blocked the hyperactivity withou taffecting controls. The possibility of using such artificially unbalanced states as animal models of manic-depressive disorders is discussed.
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We thank Mrs. Terri U'Priehard for help, Dr. Daphné Joyce for lending activity cages, Prof. Max Hamilton, Dr. D. H. Jenkinson and Prof. H. O. Schild for discussion, and the U. S. Public Health Service, the Medical Research Council, and the Foundations' Fund for Research in Psychiatry for support. We also thank Mr. Philip Harrison-Read for making a film which illustrates the main findings.
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Davies, C., Sanger, D.J., Steinberg, H. et al. Lithium and α-methyl-p-tyrosine prevent “manic” activity in rodents. Psychopharmacologia 36, 263–274 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421808
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421808