Effects of chlordiazepoxide, pentobarbital, buspirone, chlorpromazine, and morphine in the stretched attend posture (SAP) test.

The stretched attend posture (SAP) in the mouse is an investigatory forward elongation of the body in a novel environment. In a previous study, the anxiolytics diazepam, clobazam, and phenobarbital reduced SAP, and low doses of the non-anxiolytics imipramine and chlorpromazine were ineffective, results which prompted the investigator to propose the SAP test as a screening method for anxiolytics. However, diazepam and clobazam also increased immobility. In the present study, the anxiolytics chlordiazepoxide, pentobarbital, and buspirone and behaviorally active doses of the non-anxiolytics chlorpromazine and morphine reduced SAP and tended to increase immobility. We concluded that therapeutic-class specificity has not been demonstrated for the SAP test.