Jeffrey A. Gray and Neil McNaughton
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198522713
- eISBN:
- 9780191712517
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198522713.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Neuropsychology
This chapter defines anti-anxiety (anxiolytic) drugs, and reviews their types, clinical use, and behavioural pharmacology. Classical anxiolytic drugs and novel anxiolytic drugs share only anxiolytic ...
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This chapter defines anti-anxiety (anxiolytic) drugs, and reviews their types, clinical use, and behavioural pharmacology. Classical anxiolytic drugs and novel anxiolytic drugs share only anxiolytic action and no side-effects, in the clinic. They also share common actions on behaviours attributable to the behavioural inhibition system by the analysis of Chapter 3. Specific details of the changes produced lead to the conclusion that these drugs do not affect behaviours as such but rather, in other species as well as humans, act fundamentally to reduce anxiety itself.Less
This chapter defines anti-anxiety (anxiolytic) drugs, and reviews their types, clinical use, and behavioural pharmacology. Classical anxiolytic drugs and novel anxiolytic drugs share only anxiolytic action and no side-effects, in the clinic. They also share common actions on behaviours attributable to the behavioural inhibition system by the analysis of Chapter 3. Specific details of the changes produced lead to the conclusion that these drugs do not affect behaviours as such but rather, in other species as well as humans, act fundamentally to reduce anxiety itself.
