Following several days of continuous administration d-amphetamine acquires hallucinogenlike properties.
E B Nielsen, T H Lee, G Ellison
Psychopharmacology 1980 DOI: 10.1007/bf00432141 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Animal experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Rats |
| Interventions | LSD Mescaline d-amphetamine Slow-release amphetamine pellet |
| Duration | 108 h pretreatment with slow-release amphetamine pellet, 12 h rest period |
| Key findings | LSD and mescaline produced limb flicks and whole body shakes in rats, behaviors not elicited by acute amphetamine. After 108 hours of slow-release amphetamine pellet pretreatment, a 12-hour rest, and d-amphetamine injection, rats showed the same behaviors plus excessive grooming. The authors propose this syndrome as an animal model of human amphetamine psychosis from similar regimens. |
Abstract
Rats injected with LSD or mescaline show the behavioral syndrome which has been previously reported following injections of hallucinogens in higher mammals: limb flicks and whole body shakes. Although these behaviors are not elicited by acute injections of amphetamine, they are present in rats which have been pretreated for 108 h with a slow-release amphetamine pellet, given a 12 h rest period, and then injected with d-amphetamine. Such pellet-pretreated animals also groom their body surface excessively. We propose that this novel syndrome which follows continuous amphetamine administration can serve as an animal model of the type of amphetamine psychosis that is produced by a similar drug regimen in humans.