title: Effects of spiperone on self-stimulation and other activities of the Mongolian gerbil.
abstract: 1 Self-stimulation to lever pressing and capacitance probe touching was obtained in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) from electrode placements within the medial forebrain bundle. 2 Lever pressing was more sensitive to the decremental effects of a central depressant, pentobarbitone, than capacitance probe touching, suggesting its greater responsiveness to disturbances of motor function. 3 Spiperone (0.005 to 0.05 mg/kg) attenuated capacitance probe touching and lever pressing equally, a finding explained by action on either reward pathways or on the ability to initiate responding. 4 This same dose range of spiperone (0.005 to 0.05 mg/kg) attenuated locomotor activity, whether spontaneous or evoked by non-contingent electrical stimulation, and produced catalepsy. 5 The spiperone-induced attentuation of self-stimulation was not necessarily a result of its action on dopaminergic reward pathways since the effects could equally well be explained by a failure to initiate responding.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002090:Butyrophenones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002375:Catalepsy / Q000139:chemically induced; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005849:Gerbillinae; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D012653:Self Stimulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D013134:Spiperone / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D002090:Butyrophenones; D013134:Spiperone