Abstract
The effects of lithium chloride on the behavior of rats aroused by electrical self-stimulation of the brain were compared to the effects of a known stimulant, d-amphetamine sulfate. The threshould of the reinforcing effect of this same electrical stimulation was determined by a classical psychophysical method. A threshold of reinforcement was defined by counting the postreinforcement pauses during concurrent fixed-ratio and continuous reinforcement schedules. Lithium raises and d-amphetamine lowers this threshold. These threshold changes correspond to the opponent behavioral and biochemical actions produced by these drugs in man.
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The research was supported in part by National Science Foundation Fellowship no. GZ-1619 to G. Pick. This paper is part of a thesis submitted to Tufts University by G. Pick in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M. S. Degree.
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Pick Cassens, G., Mills, A.W. Lithium and amphetamine: Opposite effects on threshold of intracranial reinforcement. Psychopharmacologia 30, 283–290 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422875
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422875