The action of imipramine,amitriptyline, doxepin and butriptyline in an operant conditioning schedule

The behavioural action of imipramine, amitriptyline, doxepin and butriptyline was studied in an operant conditioning programme composed of two concurrent schedules, one food reinforced and the other an avoidance schedule. The possibility that the position (near or far from the food tray) of the two levers in the cage may affect drug behavioural action was investigated.Tricyclic antidepressants caused a dose dependent depression of the food reinforced responses; the avoidance reflex was slightly depressed at the highest doses only. This pattern of antidepressive activity was compared with the patterns obtained in the same test with other CNS agents.