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Effects of psychotropic drugs on the sleep—wakefulness cycle of the developing kitten
Author(s) -
Shimizu Akira,
Himwich Harold E.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420020306
Subject(s) - wakefulness , kitten , chlorpromazine , haloperidol , sleep (system call) , slow wave sleep , anesthesia , imipramine , psychology , medicine , cats , electroencephalography , neuroscience , dopamine , operating system , alternative medicine , pathology , computer science
The effects of psychotropic drugs on the sleep‐wakefulness cycle were studied in 70 kittens during their growth period from 1 to 28 days of age. Recordings of EEG, EMG of posterior neck muscles, and respiration were made as well as observations of behavior. Neither imipramine nor chlorpromazine decreased percent time of wakefulness in kittens until they were 16 to 18 days of age when decreases first occurred as in mature cats. These two drugs also depressed the percent time of activated sleep and increased that of slow‐wave sleep, both actions being least prominent in newborn kittens 1 to 3 days old and becoming more marked thereafter. Propericiazine diminished activated sleep time and increased slow‐wave sleep time, these changes being least marked in newborn kittens. This is the only drug that did not decrease the percent time of wakefulness. Haloperidol is the only drug that did not diminish activated sleep time; slow‐wave sleep time, however, was increased and the percent time of wakefulness decreased. These effects were not observed until 16 to 18 days of age. In general, for all drugs studied, the effects were less marked in the younger subjects. Moreover, the drug effects on activated sleep were established earlier than those on wakefulness.