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Abstract
The open field is a very popular animal model of anxiety-like behavior. An overview
of the literature on the action elicited by effective or putative anxiolytics in animal
subjected to this procedure indicates that classical treatments such as benzodiazepine
receptor full agonists or 5-HT(1A) receptor full or partial agonists elicit an anxiolytic-like
effect in this procedure in most cases (approximately 2/3). However, compounds (triazolobenzodiazepines
such as adinazolam and alprazolam, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) that have
a different spectrum of therapeutic efficacy in anxiety disorders such as panic attacks,
generalized anxiety disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder were poorly effective
as anxiolytics in the open field test, suggesting that this paradigm may not model
features of anxiety disorders. The procedure is also relevant for the study of compounds
endowed with anxiogenic effects, as such effects were detected after treatments with
benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonists or with corticotropin releasing factor (CRF)
receptor agonists.