Psychoactive drugs, such as caffeine, amphetamines, mescaline, LSD, marijuana, cloral hydrates, theophylline, IBMX and others, can have a strong effect on certain animals. At small concentrations, some psychoactive drugs reduce the rate of eating insects and molluscs, and at higher doses, some can kill them. Spiders build more irregular nets than ever after consuming most of the drugs. It is believed that plants develop caffeine as a chemical defense against insects.
Video Effect of psychoactive drugs on animals
Spider
In 1948, Swiss pharmacologist Peter N. Witt began his research on the effects of drugs on the spider. The initial motivation for this study was the request of his colleague, zoologist H. M. Peters, to shift the time when garden spiders built their webs from 02:00 to 05:00, which seemed to disturb Peters, to the previous hour. Witt tested the spider with various psychoactive drugs, including amphetamines, mescaline, strychnine, LSD, and caffeine, and found that the drug affected the size and shape of the net rather than the time it was made. In small doses of caffeine (10 Ã,Âμg/spider), the net is smaller; the radius is uneven, but the regularity of the circle is not affected. At higher doses (100 Ã,Âμg/spider), the shape changes more, and web design becomes irregular. All the drugs tested reduced the web's order except for small doses (0.1-0.3 Âμg) from LSD, which increased the regularity of the web.
Drugs are given by dissolving them in sugar water, and a drop of the solution is touched to the spider's mouth. In some subsequent studies, the spider is fed with an anesthetized fly. For qualitative research, a well-defined volume of solution is provided by a fine syringe. The webs were photographed for the same spider before and after the drug.
Witt's research was discontinued, but came alive in 1984 after a paper by J.A. Nathanson in the journal Science , which is discussed below. In 1995, a NASA research group repeated Witt's experiment on the effects of caffeine, benzedrine, marijuana and cloral hydrates on European garden spiders. The NASA results are qualitatively similar to Witt, but the novelty is that the spider web pattern is analyzed quantitatively with modern statistical tools, and is proposed as a sensitive method of detecting drugs.
In a recent investigation, Hamidreza Namazi follows the work done by Witt and NASA research group and uses fractal theory to investigate the correlation between the complex structure of brain signals of the spider and the web in non-stimulatory cases as well as stimulation by feeding using caffeine, Benzedrine. and chloral hydrate. Based on the results, drugs make the brain signals of the spider and the web become less complex. He found that by switching from a "no drug" state to Benzedrine, Caffeine, Chloral hydrate, the activity of the spider brain results in a greater decrease in the complexity of the spider web that reflects a tendency in reducing the complexity of brain signals of the spider in this case. drugs. Namazi also analyzes the information content of the brain signals of the spider and the web under different conditions. The results show the relationship between the information content of the spider web and the brain signals, as the trend across the decline in information content of brain signals is reflected in trends across the declining information content of the spider web.
Maps Effect of psychoactive drugs on animals
Arthropods and other molluscs
In 1984, Nathanson reported the effects of methylxanthines on hookworm larvae. He provided a solution of finely ground tea leaves or coffee beans to the larvae and observed, at concentrations of between 0.3 and 10% for coffee and 0.1 to 3% for tea, food inhibition, hyperactivity and tremor. At higher concentrations, the larvae are killed within 24 hours. He repeated the experiments with pure caffeine and concluded that the drug was responsible for its effect, and the concentration difference between coffee beans and tea leaves came from 2-3 times higher caffeine content in the latter. Similar measures were observed for IBMX on mosquito larvae, mealworm larvae, butterfly larvae and milkweed insect chant, ie, inhibition of eating and death at higher doses. The flour beetle is not affected by IBMX up to 3% concentration, but long-term experiments reveal suppression of reproductive activity.
Furthermore, Nathanson fed the larvae of tobacco worms with leaves sprayed with psychoactive drugs such as caffeine, formamidine pesticides didemethylchlordimeform (DDCDM), IBMX or theophylline. He observed the same effect, namely inhibition of eating followed by death. Nathanson concluded that caffeine and related methylxanthines could be natural pesticides developed by plants as a protection against worms: Caffeine is found in many plant species, with high levels in seedlings that are still leaf growing, but lacks mechanical protection; caffeine paralyzes and kills some insects that feed on plants. High levels of caffeine have also been found in the soil around the seeds of coffee beans. It is therefore understood that caffeine has a natural function, both as a natural pesticide and as a barrier to the germination of seeds of nearby coffee seeds, thus providing a better chance of survival.
Coffee beetle beetles do not seem to be affected by caffeine, because their feeding levels do not change when they are given leaves that are sprayed with caffeine solution. It was concluded that the beetle had adapted to caffeine. The study was further developed by altering solvents for caffeine. Although aqueous caffeine solutions do not affect beetles, caffeine oleic emulsions inhibit their eating, suggesting that even if certain insects have been adapted to some form of caffeine, they can be tricked by altering minor details, such as drug solvents.
These results and conclusions were confirmed by similar studies of snails and snails. Cabbage leaves are sprayed with caffeine solution and fed to slugs of Veronicella cubensis and Zonitoides arboreus snails. Cabbage consumption decreases with time, followed by mollusc death. Inhibition of eating with caffeine is also observed for caterpillars.
Cat
Approximately 70% of domestic cats are very interested, and are influenced by the plant Nepeta cataria , otherwise known as catnip. Wild cats, including tigers, are also affected, but with an unknown percentage. The cat's first reaction is to sniff. Then, they lick and sometimes chew the plants and then rub against the cheeks and the whole body with rolling. If cats consume concentrated extracts from plants, they quickly show signs of excessive excitement such as great shock, high saliva, and sexual arousal. This reaction is caused by a volatile terpenoid called nepetalactone present in the plant. Although they are slightly toxic and repel insects from plants, the concentration is too low to poison the cat.
Monkey monkeys
Monkey apes given with haloperidol and olanzapine antipsychotics during the 17-27 month period showed reduced brain volume. These results have not been observed in humans who also take the drug due to lack of available data.
Media
- British documentary series 2002 Weird Nature episode 6 "Pottery Potions" documents various animals involved in intoxication or zoopharmacognosy. Most of the material was reused in National Geographic's Worlds Weirdest Happy Hour.
- The documentary 2014 Dolphins - Spy in the Pod shows dolphins getting drunk on bloated fish.
Further reading
- Siegel, Ronald K. (1989, 2005) Intoxication: Universal Encouragement for Food-Substance Substance
- Samorini, Giorgio (2002) Animals and Psychedelics: The World's Nature And The Instinct To Change Awareness
See also
- The mouse garden
- Zoopharmacognosy
References
External links
- Nets made by spiders that are flies with drug doses
- Elephants on Acid: and Other Odd Experiments ISBNÃ, 0-15-603135-3
- LSD related elephant death
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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