Concurrent quantification of tremor and depression of locomotor activity induced in rats by harmaline and physostigmine

Abstract

In regard to tremor, harmaline and physostigmine induced quantitatively different kinds of tremor, and these differences probably reflect the drugs' different sites of action in the brain (harmaline: inferior olive; physostigmine: basal ganglia). For harmaline, tolerance to the tremorogenic effect was concurrent with a lack of tolerance to locomotor suppression, and this finding suggested the presence of a strong motor effect of harmaline that continued to be expressed despite the absence of tremor.

Genetic essential tremor in γ-aminobutyric acidA receptor α1 subunit knockout mice

“…The only model sharing some features of essential tremor uses the γ-aminobutyric acid A (GABA A ) receptor inverse agonist harmaline to induce a temporary tremor in animals (8) through its action at the inferior olive. However, animals develop rapid tolerance to harmaline, enhanced physiological tremor, and locomotor deficits due to Purkinje cell degeneration and do not respond to propranolol (9)(10)(11). Although the harmaline model of tremor has made a valuable contribution to the understanding of human essential tremor, inconsistencies with essential tremor demonstrate the need for additional models.…”

Behavioral sensitization to amphetamine in rats: changes in the rhythm of head movements during focused stereotypies

“…However, the harmaline power spectra (see Fig. 3 in Wang and Fowler 2001) did not have spectral peaks in the region of 2.5 Hz (see Fig. 2, column 1).…”

Use of a force-plate actometer for detecting and quantifying vertical leaping induced by amphetamine in BALB/cJ mice, but not in C57BL/6J, DBA/2J, 129X1/SvJ, C3H/HeJ, and CD-1 mice

“…The force-plate actometer is a computer-based instrument with high temporal and spatial resolution that has been used in our laboratory to measure various behaviors exhibited by rats and mice, such as locomotor activity (e.g., Fowler et al, 2002a,b), tremor (e.g., Wang and Fowler, 2001), focused-stereotypy (e.g., Fowler et al, 2003Fowler et al, , 2005, and wall rearing (Fowler et al, 2002b). The actometer and methods for processing its data have been described in detail elsewhere (see Fowler et al, 2001).…”