title: Cholinergic modulation of separation distress in the domestic chick.
abstract: The effects of nicotine, carbachol, hexamethonium and scopolamine were investigated on distress vocalizations (DBs) of acutely isolated domestic chicks. Nicotine attenuated, while the antimuscarinic scopolamine increased the frequency of separation-induced DVs. Furthermore, the stress attenuating effects of nicotine were blocked by pretreatment with scopolamine. These results implicate muscarinic receptor participation in the control of separation-induced distress, and support the suggestion that nicotine-induced DV suppression may result from activation of behaviorally relevant muscarinic receptors via central release of acetylcholine.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D002645:Chickens; D008297:Male; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D010276:Parasympatholytics / Q000494:pharmacology; D010277:Parasympathomimetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D012934:Social Isolation; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010276:Parasympatholytics; D010277:Parasympathomimetics