Reticular Stimulation and Chlorpromazine: An Animal Model for Schizophrenic Overarousal

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Abstract
It has been postulated that certain schizophrenic patients are in a state of continual central excitation and that improvement in these patients after treatment with chlorpromazine is a result of the action of the drug in reducing this excitation. A model was developed to test this postulated state of central excitation. Rats were electrically stimulated in the mesencephalic reticular formation while performing a simple attention task. Stimulation or treatment with chlorpromazine impaired the performance of the animals; however, the two treatments together resulted in performance indistinguishable from that seen after injections of saline alone.