Publication Date

1990

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Lints, Carlton E.

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Psychology

LCSH

Tranquilizing drugs--Testing; Sedatives--Testing

Abstract

Female Swiss albino mice were tested on an accelerating rotorod and in a light-dark apparatus in order to measure the sedative and anxiolytic properties, respectively, of the putative nonsedative anxiolytics buspirone, premazepam, and C1218,872. Comparisons were made against mice injected with vehicle and mice treated with the sedative anxiolytic diazepam which was used as a standard. Ephedrine was included as a control for stimulant effects in the light-dark apparatus, and ethyl-beta-carboline-3- carboxylate was also used in the light-dark apparatus in an attempt to assess its presumed anxiogenic effects. The results from the accelerating rotorod indicated that buspirone, premazepam, and diazepam all produced significant, dose-dependent sedative effects, suggesting that the accelerating feature of the rotorod may provide a more sensitive test for sedation than most experimental techniques currently in use. The results from the light-dark apparatus were more variable. Of the drugs tested, only buspirone produced a significant anxiolytic response across all doses. Diazepam produced results that were contradictory with previous findings that used a similar apparatus and the same doses. Methodological considerations regarding this model of the anxiolytic response are discussed.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [55]-62)

Extent

76 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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