Lithium chloride reduced the rate of acquisition of a passive-avoidance response and decreased the rats' reaction to the shock delivery. Acquisition of an active-avoidance response was unimpaired by lithium, although lithium-administered rats responded predominantly to the cue stimulus, making significantly fewer precue avoidance responses than did controls. Lithium's efficacy in the treatment of manic disorders may, therefore, be the result of a decrease in the individual's reactivity to low-intensity stimulation.
Lithium chloride and rubidium chloride were tested under conditions in which the effects of their chronic administration on aversively-controlled behavior could be assessed. Lithium attenuated shock-induced suppression of open-field activity when that suppression was under the control of mild or moderate stimulus parameters, but had no effect on the suppression produced by the presence of shock itself. Rubidium, on the other hand, increased shock-induced suppression under all conditions. When shock was removed and extinction of the activity suppression was investigated, lithium subjects failed to return to their original baseline activity levels, while subjects receiving rubidium recovered baselines in a manner indistinguishable from that observed in control animals.
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