The differential haloperidol effect on the immobility response elicited by clamping, grasping, bandaging and inversion in guinea pig, hamster and rat

The induction and modification by haloperidol of inhibitory responses, by 4 inducing stimuli (inversion, clamping, bandaging and grasping) were studied and compared in guinea pig, hamster and rat. When undrugged, all 4 stimuli induced immobility responses in guinea pig; only clamping, bandaging and grasping, but not inversion, induced immobility responses (IR) in hamsters; only clamping and grasping, but not inversion and bandaging induced IR in rats. Haloperidol significantly potentiated the occurrence and duration of the IR by clamping, grasping and bandaging in rats. In hamsters haloperidol only potentiated the IR induced by bandaging, and in guinea pigs, haloperidol had no effect on IR produced by any of the stimuli. These findings suggest an inverse relationship between susceptibility to IR and the potentiation of IR by haloperidol.