Effects of mescaline and amphetamine on simultaneous visual discrimination in two inbred strains of mice
Psychopharmacology 1979 DOI: 10.1007/bf00426032 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | BALB/cJ and C57BL/6J mice |
| Interventions | Mescaline Amphetamine |
| Dose | 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg mescaline; 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/kg amphetamine |
| Topics | Mescaline |
| Keywords | Amphetamine Pharmacology Inbred strain Saline Ratón |
| Citations | 8 |
| Key findings | Mescaline improved performance in C57 mice but impaired it in BALB mice, while amphetamine improved performance in both strains, and both drugs affected memory consolidation when given immediately after training. |
Abstract
The effects of mescaline and amphetamine were investigated in BALB/cJ (BALB) and C57BL/6J (C57) mice using the five-choice Yerkes--Thompson Bryant--Bovet-Nitti apparatus for patterns discrimination. Two sets of experiments were carried out. In the first set, pretrial administration of mescaline (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) was followed by performance improvements in the C57 mice, while performances of the BALB strain were impaired by the treatment, as compared with those of the saline-injected (4 ml/kg) controls. The pretrial administration of amphetamine (0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/kg) improved performances of both strains. In a second set of experiments, the same effects as in the pretrial experiments were observed in both strains following administration of mescaline (20 mg/kg) and amphetamine (0.5 mg/kg) immediately after each experimental session. No effect was evident when the drugs were injected 2 h after training, suggesting that effects of the pretrial treatments were due to influences of mescaline and amphetamine on the consolidation processes of the two strains of mice tested.