Drugan R C, Scher D M, Sarabanchong V, Guglielmi A, Meng I, Chang J, Bloom K, Sylvia S, Holmes P
Schrier Research Laboratory, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912.
Behav Neurosci. 1992 Aug;106(4):682-9. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.106.4.682.
Rats were exposed to either 80 escapable shocks or yoked inescapable shocks and then injected with several hypnotic doses of sodium pentobarbital, midazolam, or ethanol; their sleep-time duration was compared with that of naive controls. Inescapable shock exposure resulted in a significant increase in ethanol-induced sleep time compared with the escapable shock and naive control groups. Both escape and yoked groups showed an increase in barbiturate-induced sleep time compared with controls, although no difference was observed for midazolam. Acute stress (twenty 5-s inescapable shocks) did not alter the depressant-induced sleep time for any of the drugs tested. These results illustrate the importance of psychological aspects of stress and its influence on the potency of certain depressants.
