Erowid References Database
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Key BJ, Bradley PB.
“Effect of drugs on conditioning and habituation to arousal stimuli in animals.”.
Nature. 1958;182:1517-1519.
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Abstract
Habituation of the arousal reaction to auditory stimuli develops rapidly, rendering drug evaluation difficult. Cats with implanted electrodes were therefore trained to arouse upon presentation of a specific tone. The conditioned response, obtained by pairing this tone with an electric shock, consisted of both electrocortical desynchronization and behavioral arousal. This method avoided habituation. Studies were made of the effects of chlorpromazine, reserpine and LSD on the conditioned and unconditioned acoustic arousal responses. . Chlorpromazine (5-10 mg/kg i.p.) raised the threshold for both conditioned and unconditioned arousal responses. 15-20 mg/kg completely blocked both responses. . Reserpine (200-250 mcg/kg i.p.) also raised, after a fairly long latent period, the threshold for both responses. It then blocked the unconditioned response, possibly because of habituation. . LSD (5 mcg/kg i.p.) sharply reduced the threshold for the unconditioned arousal response but not that for the conditioned arousal response. After LSD, a stimulus to which the cat had become habituated evoked a marked response, a much lower intensity of stimulation being necessary. After 10-15 mcg/kg the cat became more responsive to sensory stimulation and remained alert for long periods. . Comment: See 247 and 482 for studies on the "encephale isole" of the cat. The usage of the terms "conditioned" and "unconditioned" in this paper is unusual. Normally an unconditioned response is a response to a stimulus without a previous signal. A conditioned response is one made without the subsequent shock effected in previous experiments.
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