Effects of anxiolytic and anxiogenic drugs on exploratory activity in a simple model of anxiety in mice.

Chlordizaepoxide, pentylenetrazole, phenobarbital, N-methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxamide (FG-7142), buspirone and the novel serotonin3 receptor (5-HT3) antagonist, 3-tropanyl-indole-3-carboxylate (ICS 205-930), were examined in the two-compartment exploratory model (Crawley and Goodwin, 1980). The results indicated that, utilizing the time mice spend in the dark side of the apparatus as an index of anxiety, increased the sensitivity of the model and enabled both anxiolytic and anxiogenic agents to be detected.