To test the possible involvement of serotonin-containing cells of the midbrain in mediating the effects of mescaline on startle responding, electrolytic lesions were made in either the dorsal or median raphe nucleus in rats. Decreases in either striatal or hippocampal tryptophan hydroxylase activity confirmed the effectiveness of the lesions. One week later, startle was measured in response to...
Tactile startle responding by male Sprague-Dawley rats given 60 presentations of air-puff stimuli (37.5 psi) was measured after the intraperitoneal administration of graded doses of hallucinogens and other psychoactive drugs. Among the drugs tested were the indoleamine-derived compounds, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), N,N-dimethyltryptamine and psilocin, and the phenylethylamine-derived...