Effect of Various Substances on Swing Sickness,

Abstract

Summary

A series of daily electro-convulsive shocks in 13 male rats, for 5-day periods, significantly reduced concurrent activity as compared with (1) preshock activity, (2) 5-day periods of no-shock, interposed between periods of shock, and (3) the post-shock recovery period. There is a cumulative effect of successive periods of shock. The mean level of activity reached during the post-shock period of 30 days was significantly lower than that of the preshock period. Whether this difference was due to natural decline of activity with age or to lingering effects of electro-convulsive shock was not determined.

Summary. 1. Sodium barbital, benzedrine, V-5, thiamine, and pyridoxine were of no demonstrated value in the prevention of swing sickness. 2. Sulfadiazine in daily doses of 1 g did not appreciably affect the susceptibility to swing sickness. 3. A mixture of sodium amytal, atropine, and scopolamine was effective in swing sickness but probably not significantly more effective than could be predicted from its content of atropine and scopolamine. 4. The addition of neostigmine to scopolamine decreased the effectiveness of this mixture over that of scopolamine alone but did not entirely abolish it, although it effectively prevented the depressant action of scopolamine on salivation. 5. The addition of the thiobarbiturate V-12 to scopolamine did not increase its effectiveness in swing sickness. 6. A mixture of scopolamine, chlorobutanol and benzedrine was insignificantly more effective than the scopolamine alone ir a similar dose.