Erowid References Database
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Winter JC.
“The behavioral pharmacology of psychoactive drugs”.
Psychopharmacol.Bull.. 1975;11(2):63-64.
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Abstract
The effects of psychoactive drugs on operant behavior and the mechanisms by which these effects are produced were investigated. Methods. Rats and monkeys were trained to perform certain tasks and the effects of drugs on performance were measured quantitatively.. In some studies, the incidence of cross - tolerance was tested. The presence of psychoactive substances in nerve, liver, and other tissues and patterns of interaction with endogenous neurochemicals were examined. Results. Pretreatment with LSD or mescaline for 2 days preceding a test dose of LSD reduced the rate-depressant effect of LSD. Examination of brain and liver tissues revealed no significant differences between animals wwhich received LSD for the first time and those pretreated with mescaline. Mescaline and LSD could serve as discriminative stimuli when either drug was paired with saline and the degree of discrimination was drug dose dependent. When equivalent doses of the two hallucinogens were given to the same animal, no discriminated responding was observed. In related studies, however, moderate doses of mescaline reduced the ability to identify a flicker stimulus., whereas moderate doses of LSD enhanced performance. A smaller dose of mescaline, which, by itself did not affect performance, reduced LSD- induced increase. A subeffective dose of LSD antagonized the depression of discrimiative ability caused by mescaline. The stimulant properties of mescaline and 3,4-dimethoxy-phenethylamine (DMPEA) differed. In rats previously trained to discriminate mescaline and saline, DMPEA could be substituted for saline without change in discrimination; rats not previously treated with drugs were able to acquire a discrimination based on mescaline and DMPEA. With chlordiazepoxide, methysergide, and other drugs, antagonism of tryptamine was nwither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for the enhancement of response rates suppressed by punishment.
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