title: Behavioral effects of morphine on free-operant avoidance under hyperbaric pressure.
abstract: Morphine sulfate was tested under hyperbaric pressure to assess its effects on behavior. Four male hooded rats were trained to avoid brief electric shocks under a free-operant unsignalled avoidance procedure. Using an individual organism design, we injected each rat subcutaneously with morphine sulfate (2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 mg/kg body wt.) or saline (0.1 ml/100 g body wt.). Rats were tested at 1.0 and 7.1 atmospheres absolute (ATA) in a dry hyperbaric chamber while breathing a mixture of helium and oxygen. Each session lasted 60 min. Overall, the analgesic effects of morphine at 1.0 and 7.1 ATA were found to be similar. Shock avoidance by a rat was found to be a monotonic function of the drug dose; the fewest shocks were associated with the 2.0 mg/kg dose. Increased pressure did not significantly affect the number of shocks received by a rat across doses. Total responding remained stable throughout the study, but the temporal pattern of responding was differentially influenced by drug dose.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects*; D004597:Electroshock; D005502:Food; D009020:Morphine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D009020:Morphine