[Effect of amantadine on the emotional reactivity and agressiveness of rats and mice].

The effect of amantadine on various models of aggressiveness was investigated in experiments on male albino rats and mice. Amantadine (30-75 mg/kg) inhibited emotional reactivity and aggressiveness in models of shock- and apomorphine-induced aggression reproduced in rats. The drug also inhibited the isolation-induced aggressiveness in mice. In rats with bilaterally damaged caudate nucleus no inhibitory effect of amantadine on emotional behavior was in evidence, while in those with destroyed midbrain raphe nuclei this effect of amantadine was less ostensible by comparison with controls (sham-operated animals). It is suggested that the antiaggressive effect of amantadine is due to its stimulating action on the strial serotoninergic system.