Behavioral Tolerance to Anticholinergic Agents.
Abstract
Squirrel monkeys were studied under four procedures in which their responses were maintained either by positive reinforcement (food presentation) or negative reinforcement (avoidance of brief electric shocks). Each procedure was designed to allow within-subject determination of drug effects. In the experimental design used, atropine-produced decreases in the frequency of the reinforced behavior result in greater or lesser decreases in the frequency of reinforcement. A range of atropine doses was studied with the following preliminary results: a) atropine produced dose-related decreases under all conditions; b) behavior maintained by food reinforcement was considerably more sensitive to atropine's rate-reducing effects than was behavior maintained by negative reinforcement; c) eating of the food pellets used as positive reinforcers was suppressed by atropine, sometimes for more than a day following drug administration. With some subjects, the effects of atropine were determined in the presence of physostigmine. Physostigmine alone also resulted in decreased responding. Evidence of antagonism between atropine and physostigmine was observed for behavior maintained alternatly by positive and negative reinforcement. Keywords: Tolerances(physiology); Schedules.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADB105145
Entities
People
- Marc N. Branch
Organizations
- University of Florida