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Electroencephalographic studies on the development of tolerance and cross tolerance to mescaline in the rat

Brenda K. Colasanti, Naim Khazan

Psychopharmacology 1975 DOI: 10.1007/bf00429251 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Experimental study Peer reviewed
Population Rats with permanent cortical and temporalis muscle electrodes
Interventions mescaline lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) N N-diethyl-tryptamine (DET) amphetamine
Dose 30 mg/kg every 6 hrs for first 2 days, then 60 mg/kg every 6 hrs
Topics LSD Mescaline Psilocybin Serotonin
Keywords Arousal Electroencephalography Wakefulness Amphetamine Cross-tolerance Anesthesia Drug tolerance Sleep system call Hallucinogen Audiology
Citations 14
Key findings Rats tolerant to mescaline showed cross-tolerance to LSD and DET but not to amphetamine.

Abstract

Recordings of the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the electromyogram (EMG) were collected continuously from rats equipped with permanent cortical and temporalis muscle electrodes. Automatic injections of mescaline were administered through indwelling i.p. cannulas at an initial dose of 30 mg/kg every 6 hrs for the first 2 days. This dose was then increased to 60 mg/kg 6 hr which was given for the duration of the study. The initial injections of the mescaline induced an immediate desynchronization of the EEG and behavioral arousal of the rat, which endured for 2-3 hrs. After this time, slow wave (SW) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep episodes reappeared, with the return of regular alternations of the sleep-wakefulness cycle. Upon continued administration of the drug, partial tolerance to the arousal effects of mescaline developed, which was reflected by a gradual reduction in the latencies to onset of SW sleep and REM sleep. Rats rendered tolerant to mescaline in this manner were found to be cross tolerant to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and N,N-diethyl-tryptamine (DET). In contrast, cross tolerance did not occur to amphetamine, which exerts similar arousal and EEG desynchronizing effects. These results agree with physiological and behavioral studies of tolerance and cross tolerance among hallucinogens and support the usefulness of the EEG as a quantitative indicator of central nervous system function.

Comparable studies

Other preclinical and animal studies on mescaline, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Correlation between the potency of hallucinogens in the mouse head-twitch response assay and their behavioral and subjective effects in other species. C57BL/6J mice 2020 Experimental study with dose-response experiments
Brain mechanisms of hallucinogens and entactogens Humans and rats 2001 Review
Effects of hallucinogenic agents mescaline and phencyclidine on zebrafish behavior and physiology Zebrafish (Danio rerio) 2012 Experimental study
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide- and Mescaline-Induced Attenuation of the Effect of Punishment in the Rat Rats 1976 Experimental study
Dihydrobenzofuran Analogues of Hallucinogens. 3. Models of 4-Substituted (2,5-Dimethoxyphenyl)alkylamine Derivatives with Rigidified Methoxy Groups Rats (trained to discriminate saline from LSD tartrate) and rat cortical and... 1996 In vivo drug discrimination assay and in vitro radioligand binding assay

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LSD Mescaline Psilocybin Serotonin