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Effects of d-amphetamine, morphine, naloxone, and drug combinations on visual discrimination in rats

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Abstract

The effects of d-amphetamine, morphine, and naloxone on visual discrimination were investigated using a two-choice discrete-trial procedure in which rats were trained to discriminate the position of a lightflash. Morphine (0.3–5.6 mg/kg) but not amphetamine (0.1–1.0 mg/kg) caused a significant dose-dependent disruption in discriminative performance. Both amphetamine and morphine increased response latencies. Naloxone (1.0 mg/kg) prevented the disruption of any aspect of performance by up to 100 mg/kg morphine. Performance after naloxone/amphetamine co-administration was not significantly different from that observed after amphetamine alone. Naloxone alone (0.3–10 mg/kg) had no effect on discrimination, spatial bias or response latencies. These results suggest that morphine and amphetamine affect different components of discrimination performance.

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Andrews, J.S., Holtzman, S.G. Effects of d-amphetamine, morphine, naloxone, and drug combinations on visual discrimination in rats. Psychopharmacology 94, 172–177 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00176840

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00176840

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