THE BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND OTHER PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS

正在使用药理学和遗传学方法来确定 各种行为过程背后的心理生物学机制。这个 目前的研究集中在焦虑、冲动和 对老鼠的攻击性和对人类学习和记忆过程的影响。这个 乙醇的影响，以及具有已知和特定机制的药物的影响 行动正在调查中。 选择性的α-2肾上腺素能受体拮抗剂已被证明可以减少 乙醇的降温和共济失调作用，但不能改变乙醇的 抗焦虑、抗惊厥或运动刺激作用。其效果是 中枢调节而不是外周调节，似乎涉及α-2 肾上腺素受体而不是咪唑啉结合部位。 对笼友表现出高度攻击性的雄性老鼠 既不同于它们的下属笼友，也不同于关在笼子里的对照小鼠 在几乎看不到战斗的笼子里。最一致的 在波索尔特的游泳测试中观察到了不同之处，在那里，从属的老鼠表现出 与控制组相比，增加了不动。行为上的差异 似乎是在攻击性社交互动之后，而不是在之前。

Pharmacologic and genetic methods are being used to determine the psychobiological mechanisms underlying various behavioral processes. The current research is focused on the neurobiology of anxiety, impulsivity and aggression in mice and on learning and memory processes in humans. The effects of ethanol, and of drugs with known and specific mechanisms of action are being investigated. Selective alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonists have been shown to reduce ethanol's hypothermic and ataxic effects but not to alter ethanol's anxiolytic, anticonvulsant or locomotor stimulant effects. The effect is mediated centrally rather than peripherally and appears to involve alpha-2 adrenoceptors rather than imidazoline binding sites. Male mice that show high levels of aggression towards their cage-mates differ from both their subordinate cage-mates and from control mice housed in cages in which little fighting is observed. The most consistent difference is observed in Porsolt's swim test where subordinate mice show increased immobility relative to controls. The behavioral differences appear to follow rather than precede the aggressive social interactions.