Premium
Behavioral patterns of anti barbituric action after 5‐phenyl‐2‐imino‐4‐oxo‐oxazolidine, amphetamine, and caffeine
Author(s) -
Dureman Ingmar
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1002/cpt196232163
Subject(s) - barbiturate , caffeine , premedication , amobarbital , placebo , anesthesia , amphetamine , stimulant , psychology , jumping , pharmacology , chemistry , medicine , epilepsy , neuroscience , alternative medicine , pathology , psychiatry , dopamine , physiology
A battery of objective behavioral tests was used to assay the differential patterning of antibarbituric effects of 5‐phenyl‐2‐imino‐4‐oxo‐oxazolidine (PIO), amphetamine, and caffeine. The test battery included a difficult code‐tracking operation performed under forced speed conditions, a 40 minute monotonous test of clerical speed (simple arithmetic operations), reaction time, two tests of fine motor coordination, aiming accuracy (moving targets rotated at three different speed levels), and the Archimedes spiral. Pulse rate and systolic blood pressure were recorded before and after each session on the code‐tracking test. Two types of barbiturates (amobarbital and neopentylallylbarbituric acid) administered at two different dose levels (200 and 400 mg.) were given orally as hypnosedative premedication 150 minutes before the intake of the stimulant drugs. When compared with barbiturate plus placebo, PIO was found to differ from amphetamine and, to a slightly lesser degree, from caffeine in (1) having no antagonistic influence on residual pulse and blood pressure effects induced by barbiturate premedication, (2) having a less‐pronounced effect on variables related to visual motion aftereffect and finger‐hand dexterity, (3) being more effective in preserving a high level of operational skill against speed stress both in rotor aiming and a difficult learning variant of the code‐tracking test, and (4) being free of adverse effects from the subjective point of view.