J. Wada
Jan 1, 1962
Citations
0
Influential Citations
10
Citations
Journal
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Abstract
In our previous studies certain urine extracts derived from acute schizophrenic patients were found to be capable of producing episodes of stuporous cataleptic states in cats and monkeys following intracisternal or intraventricular injection (Wada and Gibson, 1959). However, the exact mechanism by which this behavioral aberration was produced remains obscure. Because of the known ability of bulbocapnine to produce similar behavioral changes (DeJong, 1945), an attempt was made to correlate the electrographic activity of cortical and deep structures with the behavioral change of the monkeys following administration of bulbocapnine. The action of bulbocapnine in making an animal motionless encouraged several investigators to use it in order to avoid muscle artefact in children’s EEG recordings (Baird and Spiegel, 1955) or to immobilize an animal during a conditioning procedure (Doty, 1958). However, whether such an agent can be used without introducing its specific effect is not clear. Although a number of studies have dealt with the behavioral aspects of bulbocapnine, very little information is available as to its own electrographic effect on the central nervous system. Szekely and Spiegel (1954) found that the reactivity of various structures to sciatic stimulation was preserved or even increased in acutely prepared cats with “catatonia”producing doses of bulbocapnine. However, no explanation was offered as to how much electrical change might be correlated with the behavioral effect.