THE BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND OTHER PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS

药理学和遗传学方法正在被用来确定 各种行为过程背后的心理生物学机制。 的 目前的研究集中在焦虑、冲动和 对小鼠的攻击性以及对人类的学习和记忆过程的影响。 的 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α-2肾上腺素受体拮抗剂已显示减少 乙醇的低温和共济失调作用，但不能改变乙醇的 抗焦虑、抗惊厥或运动刺激作用。 效果 介导的中心，而不是外周，似乎涉及α-2 肾上腺素受体而不是咪唑啉结合位点。 雄性小鼠对笼友表现出高度的攻击性 与它们的下属笼友和对照小鼠不同， 关在笼子里很少发生打斗 最一致的 在Porsolt游泳试验中观察到差异，其中从属小鼠显示 相对于对照组增加不动性。 行为差异 似乎是在侵略性的社会交往之后而不是之前。

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.