Behavioural and neurochemical interactions between chronic reserpine and chronic antidepressants. A possible model for the detection of atypical antidepressants.

Chronic treatment with a low dose of reserpine (0.1 mg/kg) caused rats to become hyperactive in the "open field" apparatus. When mianserin (5 mg/kg) or the selective serotonin uptake inhibitor ORG. 6582 (5 mg/kg) was chronically administered in combination with reserpine, the hyperactivity was attenuated. Both antidepressants were found to reverse the reduction in the noradrenaline concentration of the amygdaloid cortex caused by chronic reserpine treatment. It is proposed that changes in the activity of the noradrenergic system in the amygdaloid cortex may be causally related to the changes in activity of the rats in the "open field" apparatus.