EFFECTS OF BUSPIRONE IN THE GELLER-SEIFTER CONFLICT TEST WITH INCREMENTAL SHOCK

The novel anxiolytic buspirone has weak or inconsistent activity in most of the animal models commonly used to identify anxiolytics. Among the six published studies of the effects of buspirone on punished level‐pressing in the rat, only one reported a clear effect (at two doses), and the peak effect was half that of diazepam. In the present study, in which rats responded for food in Geller‐Seifter conflict procedure with incremental shock, five factors were examined for influence on the effects of buspirone upon punished lever‐pressing: (1) fixed‐ratio 10 vs. fixed ratio 1 in the punishment portion of the multiple schedule, (2) drug‐naive vs. drug‐experienced rats, (3) albino vs. hooded rats, (4) SC vs. PO injection, and (5) time course up to 2 hr. The benzodiazepine chlordiazepoxide robustly increased responding punished by foot‐shock, but under none of the conditions did buspirone produce more than a small, inconsistent increase. Punished level‐pressing in the rat appears not to be an adequate method for identifying buspirone‐like anxiolytics. Copyright © 1990 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.