Fear-potentiated startle response is remarkably similar in two laboratories
Autor: | Rosemarie J. E. Joordens, Berend Olivier, Theo H. Hijzen, Bernard W.M.M. Peeters |
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Rok vydání: | 1996 |
Předmět: |
Male
Startle response Reflex Startle medicine.drug_class Fluvoxamine Pharmacology Fear-potentiated startle Anxiolytic Piperazines Chlordiazepoxide Flesinoxan Moro reflex medicine Animals Rats Wistar medicine.diagnostic_test Dose-Response Relationship Drug Oxazepam Fear Rats Anti-Anxiety Agents Anesthesia Psychology medicine.drug |
Zdroj: | Psychopharmacology. 126(2) |
ISSN: | 0033-3158 |
Popis: | The fear-potentiated startle response paradigm is used to investigate anxiolytic properties of drugs. The first objective of the present study was to further investigate the predictive validity of this paradigm. The anxiolytics chlordiazepoxide (2.5-10 mg/ kg IP) and oxazepam (1-10 mg/kg PO) and the putative anxiolytic flesinoxan (1-10 mg/kg PO) decreased startle potentiation dose-dependently, indicating an anxiolytic effect. The antidepressant fluvoxamine (5-20 mg/kg PO) did not affect startle potentiation. Ideally, anxiolytic drugs attenuate startle potentiation without affecting control startle levels, although some studies report altered control startle amplitudes. The second objective was to investigate whether different effects on control startle amplitudes are related to different startle devices. Therefore, the drugs were tested in two laboratories. Results showed no significant differences between laboratories, indicating that equipment is not a critical factor in the drug-induced alteration of control startle levels. In an additional experiment, it was shown that flesinoxan (10 mg/kg PO) did not affect strychnine-induced startle potentiation, supporting the idea that the attenuating effect of flesinoxan on the fear-potentiated startle response is due to its anxiolytic properties. Thus, the fear-potentiated startle response paradigm appears a valid and reliable model for anxiolytic properties of drugs. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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