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Psycho-active Drugs, Exploratory Activity and Fear

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 25 May 1968

Abstract

SUITABLE doses of dexamphetamine and also of amylobarbitone stimulate the “exploratory” activity of rats in a new environment such as a Y-shaped maze. In addition, some mixtures of these drugs produce far greater increases in activity than do the separate constituents. One of the suggested explanations was that amphetamine increased activity directly, and that barbiturates acted indirectly by reducing the fear evoked by new environments, and that appropriate mixtures exerted both effects1,2.

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An erratum to this article is available at https://doi.org/10.1038/218798c0

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KUMAR, R. Psycho-active Drugs, Exploratory Activity and Fear. Nature 218, 587–588 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/218587a0

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