Erowid References Database
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Silva MTA, Calil HM.
“Screening Hallucinogenic Drugs: Systematic Study of Three Behavoral Tests”.
Psychopharmacologia. 1975;42:163-171.
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Abstract
The effects of several hallucinogenic and nonhallcinogenic drugs have been studied on three behavioral tests proposed as useful indexes of hallucinogenic activity: "head - twitching" in mice, defecation in an open-field, and suppression of responding on a differential reinforcement of low rates (DRL) schedule of reinforcement. According to the original propositions, after administration of hallucinogenic agents the frequency of head-twitches would increase in mice, the defecation of rats in an open field would decrease without consistent change in ambulation, rearing and grooming, and the responding of rats on a DRL schedule would yield a typical cumulative record pattern. It was found that the head-twitch test was sensitive to mescaline and LSD-25, but not delta - 9-THC or to myristicin and elemicin. Besides, the data on interobserver agreement suggested there is a hgh degree of subjectivity involved in assessing this response. In the open-field test, non-hallucinogenic drugs such as chlorpromazine and apomorphine fell into the hallucinogenic pattern proposed. In addition, the post-injection interval selected seemed to critically affect defecation score. The DRL "hallucinogenic" pattern occurrred nonspecifically after administration of hallucinogenic and non-hallucinogenic drugs. It was concluded that the three tests have limited value for screening puposes.
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