Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Karen G. Anderson
Committee Member
Kathryn Kestner
Committee Member
Steven Kinsey
Abstract
Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the major centrally active phytocannabinoid components of cannabis, and has been approved by the FDA only for the treatment of two rare seizure disorders. However, CBD has been touted as a potential treatment for anxiety in place of more traditional treatments like benzodiazepines. Although there is some evidence of anxiolytic effects of CBD, its suitability as a substitute for benzodiazepines is unknown. This experiment was designed to assess to what extent CBD shares interoceptive discriminative-stimulus properties with the anxiolytic chlordiazepoxide (CDP), a benzodiazepine. In the present experiment, a range of doses (0-333.3 mg/kg) of over-the-counter CBD oil were administered in rats trained to discriminate 5.6 mg/kg CDP from saline. Due to the long time-course effects of CBD, generalization tests were conducted at 90 and 120 min post-CBD administration. The two highest doses of CBD tested (166.7 and 333.3 mg/kg) were found to partially substitute for 5.6 mg/kg CDP, with mean percent responding on the CDP-associated lever reaching above 20% in Test Two Only (120 min post-CBD administration), suggesting that the over-the-counter CBD oil used in this experiment shares interoceptive discriminative-stimulus properties to some degree with CDP.
Recommended Citation
Chalme, Rebecca L., "Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Cannabidiol Oil in Rats" (2021). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8109.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8109
Embargo Reason
Publication Pending