LSD-induced alterations of locomotor patterns and exploration in rats
Psychopharmacology June 1, 1982 DOI: 10.1007/bf00431945 via Springer Nature
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractRats given 20–30 μg/kg LSD avoided a novel holeboard chamber during the first half of a 1-hour session, reducing all activity measures such as crossovers, rearings, and hole pokes. In the second half, LSD-treated rats maintained steady responding while controls continued to decline. Despite initial avoidance, LSD-treated rats made consistently longer hole pokes into floor holes and showed more diverse locomotion patterns than controls. Most notably, they failed to develop the stereotyped excursion routes from the home cage to the holeboard that controls established. The authors suggest LSD potentiates both neophobic avoidance and investigatory responses by slowing behavioral habituation.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Rats |
| Intervention | LSD |
| Dose | 20–30 μg/kg |
| Duration | 1-hour session |
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Exploration Holeboard Locomotor activity Locomotor patterns |
| Key finding | LSD reduced initial exploration of a novel environment but led to more sustained and diverse investigatory behavior and prevented the development of stereotyped locomotion routes. |
Abstract
A free exploration test was used to examine the effects of LSD on investigatory responding and locomotor activity in a novel environment. Rats were injected with 20–30 μg/kg LSD or saline prior to being placed in a home cage. After 10 min, a door was opened permitting entry into a larger holeboard chamber where crossovers, rearings, hole pokes, and routes of locomotion were monitored. When administered either 10 or 30 min prior to testing, LSD reduced the time spent in the holeboard chamber only during the first half of a 1-h session, resulting in a corresponding reduction in all holeboard activity measures. In the subsequent 30 min, LSD-treated rats maintained a steady level of responding, in contrast to the continual derement exhibited by controls. Despite their initial avoidance of the holeboard, LSD-treated rats made consistently longer hole pokes into floor holes and showed a more diversified pattern of locomotion than did controls throughout the 1-h session. Most striking was the failure of LSD-treated rats to establish the stereotyped excursion routes, characteristic of controls, from the home cage to various parts of the holeboard. It is suggested that LSD potentiates both neophobic (avoidance) and investigatory responses to a novel environment by retarding the rate of behavioral habituation.