It is estimated that the prevalance of epilepsy is between 3 and 6 persons per 1000 individuals. for most persons afflicted with epilepsy, pharmacotherapy is the primary form of treatment; antiepileptic drugs also occasionally are used in an attempt to improve the behavior of mentally ill or mentally retarded individuals. Although the physiological side effects of antiepileptic agents are widely acknowledged as problematic, little attention has been paid to possible behavioral side effects of such drugs. Clinical investigations have yielded conflicting results, and preclinical studies have begun to appear only recently. The proposed studies represent an initial attempt to determine the preclinical behavioral pharmacology of primidone, methsuximide, and mephenytoin, and to extend prior findings concerning the preclinical behavioral pharmacology of phenytoin, valproic acid, phenobarbital; clonazepam, and ethosuximide. Each of these drugs is used in the clinical management of epilepsy. The effects of antiepileptic drugs will be examined, using pigeons as subjects, under 1) a multiple fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedule of food delivery, 2) a repeated acquisition procedure, 3) a delayed-matching-to-sample procedure, 4) an automaintenance procedure, 5) a negative automaintenance procedure, 6) a fixed-consecutive-number schedule (with and without external discriminative stimulti, and 7) a two-key drug discrimination procedure. Obtained results combined with the findings of prior investigations are expected to provide a profile of each drug's behavioral actions (e.g., its effects on learning, memory, and punished behavior, and its sensory consequences). Obtained results may by implication be of clinical significance, and should at minimum aid clinical researchers by suggesting the kinds of deleterious behavioral side effects likely to be produced by a particular medication.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01NS020216-03
Application #
3400466
Study Section
Biopsychology Study Section (BPO)
Project Start
1984-01-01
Project End
1988-03-31
Budget Start
1986-04-01
Budget End
1987-03-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1986
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Western Michigan University
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Kalamazoo
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
49008
Clark, R; Schlinger, H; Poling, A (1990) Discriminative stimulus properties of phenytoin in the pigeon: determination via a cumulative dosing procedure. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 35:537-41
Poling, A; Cleary, J; Berens, K et al. (1990) Neuroleptics and learning: effects of haloperidol, molindone, mesoridazine and thioridazine on the behavior of pigeons under a repeated acquisition procedure. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 255:1240-5
Jakubow, J J; Schlinger, H; Poling, A (1989) Pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures in pigeons and the effects of ethosuximide thereon. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 33:11-5
Renfrey, G; Schlinger, H; Jakubow, J et al. (1989) Effects of phenytoin and phenobarbital on schedule-controlled responding and seizure activity in the amygdala-kindled rat. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 248:967-73
Schlinger, H; Poling, A (1988) Evaluation of a procedure to measure the time course of a drug's behavioral action. J Pharmacol Methods 20:169-74
Pellettiere, V; Delaney, D; Schlinger, H et al. (1988) Effects of mephenytoin on schedule-controlled responding in the pigeon. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 31:233-7
Schlinger, H; Wilkenfield, J; Poling, A (1988) Effects of methsuximide and mephenytoin on the responding of pigeons under a fixed-consecutive-number schedule with and without an external discriminative stimulus. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 95:216-21
Schlinger, H; Poling, A (1988) Acute and chronic effects of methsuximide and mephenytoin on the delayed-matching-to-sample performance of pigeons. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 95:82-6
Delaney, D; Pellettiere, V; Schlinger, H et al. (1988) Effects of methsuximide on schedule-controlled responding in the pigeon. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 29:641-4
Blakely, E; Starin, S; Poling, A (1988) Effects of mephenytoin and methsuximide on the reaction time of pigeons. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 31:787-90

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