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Activation and sedation aren't really opposites

Posted by MB on July 19, 2003, at 23:40:39

In reply to Is Luvox activating or sedating?, posted by ian24 on July 19, 2003, at 14:38:40

The way I understand it is that an activating medication doesn't necessarily increase energy or wakefulness (arousal). I think activation, in reference to a drug, means that it increases locomotion in lab animals. One way to measure activation of a drug is to give it to a rat, place the rat on a grid, and measure how many times the rat crosses a line in the grid over a given period of time. Activating drugs increase *movement*. Some drugs that promote arousal or wakefulness aren't necessarily activating. Amphetamines are usually like this in animals who haven't become behaviorally sensitized to amphetamine via repeated exposures. Amphetamine naive animals will often be more alert and awake, yet less active, when exposed to the drug. Drugs that are *promoted* as activating, won't necessarly make you feel more awake...they might simply be agitating. Almost anyone who's been on the medication-go-round knows that agitation and sedation can coexist...they are not mutually exclusive, opposite sensations.

MB


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poster:MB thread:243493
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