Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1994 Mar;61(2):231–246. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1994.61-231

Effects of cocaine on simple reaction times and sensory thresholds in baboons.

R D Hienz 1, D J Spear 1, D A Bowers 1
PMCID: PMC1334411  PMID: 8169572

Abstract

The effects of chronic, daily administration of cocaine on auditory and visual reaction times and thresholds were studied in baboons. Single intramuscular injections of cocaine hydrochloride (0.1 to 5.6 mg/kg) were given once daily for periods of 10 to 25 days, and were followed immediately by psychophysical tests designed to assess cocaine's effects on simple reaction times as on auditory and visual threshold functions. Consistent reductions in reaction times were frequently observed over the cocaine dose range of 0.32 to 1.0 mg/kg; at higher doses, either decreases or increases in reaction times were observed, depending upon the animal. Lowered reaction times generally occurred immediately following the 1st day's cocaine injection, and continued through all subsequent days during the dose administration period, suggesting little development of tolerance or sensitivity to these reaction-time effects. Reaction-time decreases showed a U-shaped dose-effect function. The greatest decreases in reaction times occurred from 0.32 to 1.0 mg/kg, and produced an average reaction-time decrease of 10 to 12%. Concurrently measured auditory and visual thresholds showed no systematic changes as a function of cocaine dose. Pausing was observed during performance of the psychophysical tasks, with the length of total session pause times being directly related to cocaine dose.

Full text

PDF
231

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bauer R. H., Fuster J. M. Effects of d-amphetamine and prefrontal cortical cooling on delayed matching-to-sample behavior. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1978 Mar;8(3):243–249. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(78)90311-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brady K. T., Lydiard R. B., Malcolm R., Ballenger J. C. Cocaine-induced psychosis. J Clin Psychiatry. 1991 Dec;52(12):509–512. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Branch M. N., Sizemore G. M. Behavioral tolerance to cocaine in squirrel monkeys: acute and chronic effects on complex operant behavior. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1988 Jul;30(3):737–748. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(88)90092-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Davis M. Cocaine: excitatory effects on sensorimotor reactivity measured with acoustic startle. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1985;86(1-2):31–36. doi: 10.1007/BF00431680. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fischman M. W., Schuster C. R. Cocaine effects in sleep-deprived humans. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1980;72(1):1–8. doi: 10.1007/BF00433800. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fischman M. W. The behavioral pharmacology of cocaine in humans. NIDA Res Monogr. 1984;50:72–91. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Foltin R. W., Fischman M. W. Smoked and intravenous cocaine in humans: acute tolerance, cardiovascular and subjective effects. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1991 Apr;257(1):247–261. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Goldberg S. R., Kelleher R. T., Goldberg D. M. Fixed-ratio responding under second-order schedules of food presentation or cocaine injection. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1981 Jul;218(1):271–281. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gonzalez F. A., Goldberg S. R. Effects of cocaine and d-amphetamine on behavior maintained under various schedules of food presentation in squirrel monkeys. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1977 Apr;201(1):33–43. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Grilly D. M., Grogan T. W. Cocaine and level of arousal: effects on vigilance task performance of rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1990 Jan;35(1):269–271. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(90)90238-d. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Grilly D. M., Nocjar C. Cocaine and vigilance task performance of rats: effects of delay of reinforcement. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1990 Dec;37(4):643–648. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(90)90540-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Harty T. P., Davis M. Cocaine: effects on acoustic startle and startle elicited electrically from the cochlear nucleus. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1985;87(4):396–399. doi: 10.1007/BF00432501. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Herning R. I., Hooker W. D., Jones R. T. Cocaine effects on electroencephalographic cognitive event-related potentials and performance. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1987 Jan;66(1):34–42. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(87)90136-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Herning R. I., Jones R. T., Hooker W. D., Tulunay F. C. Information processing components of the auditory event related potential are reduced by cocaine. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1985;87(2):178–185. doi: 10.1007/BF00431804. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hienz R. D., Lukas S. E., Brady J. V. Effects of d-methamphetamine on auditory and visual reaction times and detection thresholds in the baboon. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1985;85(4):476–482. doi: 10.1007/BF00429668. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hienz R. D., Spear D. J., Brady J. V., Bowers D. A. Effects of cocaine on sensory motor function in baboons. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1993 Jun;45(2):399–408. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(93)90257-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Higgins S. T., Bickel W. K., Hughes J. R., Lynn M., Capeless M. A., Fenwick J. W. Effects of intranasal cocaine on human learning, performance and physiology. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1990;102(4):451–458. doi: 10.1007/BF02247124. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Hoffman S. H., Branch M. N., Sizemore G. M. Cocaine tolerance: acute versus chronic effects as dependent upon fixed-ratio size. J Exp Anal Behav. 1987 May;47(3):363–376. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1987.47-363. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Johanson C. E. Assessment of the dependence potential of cocaine in animals. NIDA Res Monogr. 1984;50:54–71. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Johanson C. E., Fischman M. W. The pharmacology of cocaine related to its abuse. Pharmacol Rev. 1989 Mar;41(1):3–52. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. KORNETSKY C., MIRSKY A. F., KESSLER E. K., DORFF J. E. The effects of dextro-amphetamine on behavioral deficits produced by sleep loss in humans. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1959 Sep;127:46–50. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Koek W., Slangen J. L. Effects of d-amphetamine and morphine on delayed discrimination: signal detection analysis and assessment of response repetition in the performance deficits. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1984;83(4):346–350. doi: 10.1007/BF00428543. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Laties V. G., Weiss B. The amphetamine margin in sports. Fed Proc. 1981 Oct;40(12):2689–2692. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Ljungberg T., Enquist M. Disruptive effects of low doses of d-amphetamine on the ability of rats to organize behaviour into functional sequences. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1987;93(2):146–151. doi: 10.1007/BF00179924. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Pfingst B. E., Hienz R., Kimm J., Miller J. Reaction-time procedure for measurement of hearing. I. Suprathreshold functions. J Acoust Soc Am. 1975 Feb;57(2):421–430. doi: 10.1121/1.380465. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Post R. M., Rose H. Increasing effects of repetitive cocaine administration in the rat. Nature. 1976 Apr 22;260(5553):731–732. doi: 10.1038/260731a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Ridley R. M., Baker H. F., Owen F., Cross A. J., Crow T. J. Behavioural and biochemical effects of chronic amphetamine treatment in the vervet monkey. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1982;78(3):245–251. doi: 10.1007/BF00428159. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Schuster C. R., Dockens W. S., Woods J. H. Behavioral variables affecting the development of amphetamine tolerance. Psychopharmacologia. 1966;9(2):170–182. doi: 10.1007/BF00404721. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Siegel R. K. Cocaine hallucinations. Am J Psychiatry. 1978 Mar;135(3):309–314. doi: 10.1176/ajp.135.3.309. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Stebbins W. C. Auditory reaction time and the derivation of equal loudness contours for the monkey. J Exp Anal Behav. 1966 Mar;9(2):135–142. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1966.9-135. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Thompson D. M. Development of tolerance to the disruptive effects of cocaine on repeated acquisition and performance of response sequences. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1977 Nov;203(2):294–302. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. WEISS B., LATIES V. G. Enhancement of human performance by caffeine and the amphetamines. Pharmacol Rev. 1962 Mar;14:1–36. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Wilson M. C., Bedford J. A., Buelke J., Kibbe A. H. Acute pharmacological activity of intravenous cocaine in the rhesus monkey. Psychopharmacol Commun. 1976;2(3):251–261. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES