Comparative behavioral effects of CNS cholinesterase inhibitors.

Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, methanesulfonyl fluoride, and physostigmine were compared on the efficacy with which each could suppress methylphenidate-induced stereotyped gnawing, an extrapyramidal motor behavior. Whereas physostigmine produced powerful suppression of the stereotypy, the sulfonyl fluorides did not produce any clear behavioral effect. Biochemical experiments conducted with the behavioral tests demonstrated that the sulfonyl fluorides produced inhibition of whole brain, caudate, cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus and brain stem cholinesterate equal to that produced by physostigmine. The reason for the marked discrepancy between the behavioral effect of physostigmine and the sulfonyl fluorides is unknown. It is, however, clear that the effect of the various drugs on extrapyramidal motor behaviors is not a simple function of the degree to which each inhibited CNS cholinesterase.