Stereotyped activities produced by amphetamine in several animal species and man

Summary Experiments with chickens, pidgeons, mice, rats, guinea-pigs, cats, dogs, squirrel-monkeys and chimpanzees show that stereotyped activity can be produced by amphetamine in doses of 1–20 mg/kg in all these species ranging from birds to primates.In man amphetamine in similar dose, i.e. higher than the therapeutic doses, can produce a psychosis, which so closely resembles schizophrenia, that misdiagnoses have been made. All the known symptoms of schizophrenia are reported, including stereotyped activity.This investigation was supported by grants from Knud Højgaards Fond and from the Copenhagen Hospital Administration. The authors want to thank Mrs. Reiko Okada and Mrs. Johanne Mengel for translation of Japanese and Italian literature.