Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Perspective
  • Published:

Time-dependent sensitization: the odyssey of a scientific heresy from the laboratory to the door of the clinic

Abstract

This review provides both a biological and clinical perspective on Time-Dependent Sensitization (TDS), an ancient amplified memory response to threat manifest in the ability of both drugs and nondrug stressors to induce neuronal and behavioral effects which strengthen entirely as a function of the passage of time following even a single or acute exposure. Evidence is presented to show that TDS may be involved in the development of a spectrum of diseases and how drug regimens based on the principles of TDS could provide a novel and revolutionary means of treating psychiatric and other illnesses.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Darwin C . On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life Appleton: New York 1889; pp 295–296

  2. Planck M . Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers Philosophical Library: New York 1949; pp 33–34

  3. Antelman SM, Chiodo LA . Repeated antidepressant treatments induce a long-lasting dopamine autoreceptor subsensitivity: is daily treatment necessary for clinical efficacy? Psychopharmacol Bull 1981; 17: 92–94

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Chiodo LA, Antelman SM . Electroconvulsive shock: progressive dopamine autoreceptor subsensitivity independent of repeated treatment Science 1980; 210: 799–801

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Chiodo LA, Antelman SM . Repeated tricyclics induce a progressive dopamine autoreceptor subsensitivity independent of daily drug treatment Nature 1980; 287: 451–454

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Antelman SM, DeGiovanni LA, Kocan D et al. Amitriptyline sensitization of a serotonin-mediated behavior depends on the passage of time and not repeated treatment Life Sci 1983; 33: 1727–1730

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Lace JW, Antelman SM . Cortical beta-adrenergic subsensitivity after desmethylimipramine may depend on the passage of time rather than daily treatment Brain Res 1983; 278: 359–361

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Antelman SM, Chiodo LA, DeGiovanni LA . Antidepressant and dopamine autoreceptors: implications for both a novel means of treating depression and understanding bipolar illness. In: Costa E, Racagni G (eds). Typical and Atypical Antidepressants, Molecular Mechanisms Raven Press: New York 1982

    Google Scholar 

  9. Antelman SM . Is it possible that drugs have been given the wrong way for centuries? In: Sen AK and Lee T (eds). Receptors and Ligands in Psychiatry Cambridge Press: Cambridge 1988

    Google Scholar 

  10. Dziedzicka-Wasylewska M, Rogoz Z . Time-dependent effects of antidepressant drugs on the low dose of apomorphine-induced locomotor hypoactivity in rats Polish J Pharmacol 1997; 49: 337–343

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Antelman SM, Eichler AJ, Black CA et al. Interchangeability of stress and amphetamine in sensitization Science 1980; 207: 329–331

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Antelman SM, Chiodo LA . Amphetamine as a stressor. In: Creese I (ed), Stimulants: Neurochemical, Behavioral and Clinical Perspectives Raven Press: New York 1983

    Google Scholar 

  13. Paulson PE, Robinson TE . Amphetamine-induced time-dependent sensitization of dopamine neurotransmission in the dorsal and ventral striatum: a microdialysis study in behaving rats Synapse 1995; 19: 56–65

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Schmidt ED, Tilders FJ, Janszen AW et al. Intermittent cocaine exposure causes delayed and long-lasting sensitization of cocaine-induced ACTH secretion in rats Eur J Pharmacol 1995; 285: 317–321

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Antelman SM, Kocan D, Edwards DJ et al. Anticonvulsant and other effects of diazepam grow with time after a single treatment Pharmacol Biochem Beh 1989; 33: 31–39

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Smith RB, Kroboth PD, Folan MM et al. Pharmacodynamic design and evaluation of novel dual release formulations of triazolam Int J Clin Pharmacol Therapeut Toxicol 1993; 35: 422–429

    Google Scholar 

  17. Derry CL, Kroboth PD, Pittenger AL et al. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of triazolam after two intermittent doses in obese and normal-weight men J Clin Psychopharmacol 1995; 15: 197–205

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Kroboth PD, McAuley JW, Derry CL . Time-dependent sensitization to triazolam? An observation in three studies J Clin Psychopharmacol 1995; 15: 192–196

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Antelman SM, Caggiula AR, Kocan D et al. One experience with ‘lower’ or ‘higher’ intensity stressors, respectively enhances or diminishes responsiveness to haloperidol weeks later: implications for understanding drug variability Brain Res 1991; 566: 276–283

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Caggiula AR, Antelman SM, Palmer AM et al. The effects of ethanol on striatal dopamine and frontal cortical D-[3H]aspartate efflux oscillate with repeated treatment: relevance to individual differences in drug responsiveness Neuropsychopharmacology 1996; 15: 125–132

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Pollock J, Kornetsky C . Reexpression of morphine-induced oral stereotypy six months after last morphine sensitizing dose Pharmacol Biochem Beh 1996; 53: 67–71

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Martin P, Soubrie P, Simon P . Does a single priming injection of clenbuterol alter behavioral response to beta-adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists in mice through a time-dependent process? Eur J Pharmacol 1985; 115: 91–96

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Pollock BG, Perel J, Shostak M et al. Understanding the response lag to tricyclics. I. Application of pulse-loading regimens with intravenous clomipramine Psychopharmacol Bull 1986; 22: 214–229

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Pollock BG, Perel J, Nathan SR et al. Acute antidepressant effect following pulse loading with intravenous and oral clomipramine Arch Gen Psychiat 1989; 46: 29–35

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Dube S, Perel JM, Miewald J et al. Antidepressant response to oral pulse loading with clomipramine (abstract) Biol Psychiat 1996; 39: 623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Schmidt ED, Janszen AW, Wouterlood FG et al. Interleukin-1-induced long-lasting changes in hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-neurons and hyperresponsiveness of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis J Neurosci 1995; 15: 7417–7426

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Schmidt ED, Binnekade AW, Janszen AW et al. Short stressor induced long-lasting increases of vasopressin stores in hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in adult rats J Neuroendocrinol 1996; 8: 703–712

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Denicoff KD, Durkin TM, Lotze MT et al. The neuroendocrine effects of interleukin-2 treatment J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1989; 69: 402–410

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Hayley S, Brebner K, Lacosta S et al. Sensitization to the effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha: neuroendocrine, central monoamine and behavioral variations J Neurosci 1999; 19: 5654–5665

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Stanford SC, Little HJ, Nutt DJ et al. A single dose of FG7142 causes long-term increases in mouse cortical β-adrenoceptors Eur J Pharmacol 1986; 134: 313–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Antelman SM, Knopf S, Kocan D et al. Persistent sensitization of clonidine-induced hypokinesia following one exposure to a stressor: possible relevance to panic disorder and its treatment Psychopharmacology 1989; 98: 97–101

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Tam SP, Hache RJ, Deeley RG . Estrogen memory effect in human hepatocytes during repeated cell division without hormone Science 1986; 234: 1234–1237

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Hache RJ, Tam SP, Cochrane A et al. Long-term effects of estrogen on avian liver: estrogen-inducible switch in expression of nuclear, hormone-binding proteins Mol Cell Biol 1987; 7: 3538–3547

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Burch JBE, Evans MI . Chromatin structural transitions and the phenomenon of vitellogenin gene memory in chickens Mol Cell Biol 1986; 6: 1886–1893

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Schmidt ED, Janszen AW, Binnekade AW et al. Transient suppression of resting corticosterone levels induces sustained increase of AVP stores in hypothalamic CRH-neurons of rats J Neuroendocrinol 1997; 9: 69–77

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Antelman SM, Kocan D, Edwards DJ et al. Behavioral effects of a single neuroleptic treatment grows with the passage of time Brain Res 1986; 385: 58–67

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Meil W, See RE . Single preexposure to fluphenazine produces persisting behavioral sensitization accompanied by tolerance to fluphenazine-induced striatal dopamine overflow in rats Pharmacol Biochem Beh 1994; 48: 605–612

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Antelman SM . Time-dependent sensitization as the cornerstone for a new approach to pharmacotherapy: drugs as foreign/stressful stimuli Drug Dev Res 1988; 14: 1–30

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Williams SA, Wesnes K, Oliver SD et al. Absence of effect of Sertraline on time-based sensitization of cognitive impairment with haloperidol J Clin Psychiat 1996; 57: (suppl 1) 7–11

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Caggiula AR, Antelman SM, Aul E et al. Prior stress attenuates the analgesic response but sensitizes the corticosterone and cortical dopamine responses to stress 10 days later Psychopharmacology 1989; 99: 233–237

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Antelman SM, Kocan D, Knopf S et al. One brief exposure to a psychological stressor induces long-lasting, time-dependent sensitization of both the cataleptic and neurochemical responses to haloperidol Life Sci 1992; 51: 261–266

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Dziedzicka-Wasylewska M . The effect of imipramine on the amount of mRNA coding for rat dopamine D2 autoreceptors Eur J Pharmacol 1997; 337: 291–296

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Antelman SM, Caggiula AR . Oscillation follows drug sensitization: implications Crit Revs Neurobiol 1996; 10: 101–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Antelman SM, Caggiula AR, Knopf S et al. Amphetamine or haloperidol 2 weeks earlier antagonized the plasma corticosterone response to amphetamine: evidence for the stressful/foreign nature of drugs Psychopharmacology 1992; 107: 331–336

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Vandijken HH, DeGoeji DC, Sutanto W et al. Short inescapable stress produces long-lasting changes in the brain-pituitary-adrenal axis of adult male rats Neuroendocrinology 1993; 58: 57–64

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Sutanto W, Oitzl MS, Rots NY et al. Corticosteroid receptor plasticity in the central nervous system of various rat models Endocr Regul 1992; 26: 111–118

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Liberzon I, Krstov M, Young EA . Stress-restress: effects on ACTH and fast feedback Psychoneuroendocrinology 1997; 22: 443–453

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Persoons JH, Moes NM, Broug-Holub E et al. Acute and long-term effects of stressors on pulmonary immune functions Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 1997; 17: 203–208

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Antelman SM, Cunnick JE, Lysle DT et al. Immobilization 12 days (but not one hour) earlier enhanced 2-deoxy-D-glucose-induced immunosuppression: evidence for stressor-induced time-dependent sensitization of the immune system Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiat 1990; 14: 579–590

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Klatzo I, Spatz M . Studies on experimental ischemia in mongolian gerbils. In: Zulch KJ, Kaufman W, Hossman KA, Hossman V (eds). Brain and Heart Infarct II Springer-Verlag: New York 1979

    Google Scholar 

  51. Fuller JL, Collins RL . Temporal patterns of sensitization for audiogenic seizures in SJL/mice Dev Psychobiol 1968; 1: 185–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Vandijken HH, van der Heyden JA, Mos J et al. Inescapable footshocks induce progressive and long-lasting behavioural changes in male rats Physiol Behav 1992; 51: 787–794

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Robinson TE . Stimulant drugs and stress: factors influencing individual differences in the susceptibility to sensitization. In: Kalivas PW, Barnes CD (eds). Sensitization of the Nervous System Telford Press: NJ 1988

    Google Scholar 

  54. Koolhaas JM, DeBoer SF, DeRutter AJ et al. Social stress in rats and mice Acta Physiol Scand Suppl 1997; 640: 69–72

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Malhotra S, Santosh PJ . Loading dose imipramine—new approach to pharmacotherapy of melancholic depression J Psychiat Res 1996; 30: 51–58

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Sallee FR, Vrindavanam NS, Deas-Nesmith D et al. Pulse intravenous clomipramine for depressed adolescents: double-blind, controlled trial Am J Psychiat 1997; 154: 668–673

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Jagadeesh HN, Gangadhar BN, Janakiramaiah DK et al. Time dependent therapeutic effects of single electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in endogenous depression J Affect Dis 1992; 24: 291–296

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Antelman SM, Gershon S . Clinical application of time-dependent sensitization to antidepressant therapy Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiat 1998; 22: 65–78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Deuschle M, Schmider J, Weber B et al. Pulse-dosing and conventional application of doxepine: effects on psychopathology and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system J Clin Psychopharmacol 1997; 17: 156–160

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Yuille MR, Houlston RS, Catovsky D . Anticipation in familial chronic lymphocytic leukaemia Leukemia 1998; 12: 1696–1698

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Farquhar J, Gajdusek DC . Kuru Raven Press: New York 1981; pp 44, 260

  62. Archibald HC, Tuddenham RO . Persistent stress reaction after combat: a twenty year follow-up Arch Gen Psychiat 1965; 12: 475–481

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Yehuda R, Antelman SM . Criteria for rationally evaluating animal models of posttraumatic stress disorder Biol Psychiat 1993; 33: 479–486

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Antelman SM, Caggiula AR, Gershon S et al. Stressor-induced oscillation: a possible model of the bidirectional symptoms in PTSD Ann NY Acad Sci 1997; 821: 296–304

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Elwood JM, Jopson J . Melanoma and sun exposure: an overview of published studies Int J Cancer 1997; 73: 198–203

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Sotelo J . Multiple viral pathogenicity: another paradigm in medical research Perspectives Biol Med 1996; 39: 507–513

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. Marks IM . Fears, Phobias, and Rituals Oxford University Press: New York 1987; p 249

  68. Keynes JM . The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money Harcourt-Brace: New York 1936; p viii

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S M Antelman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Antelman, S., Levine, J. & Gershon, S. Time-dependent sensitization: the odyssey of a scientific heresy from the laboratory to the door of the clinic. Mol Psychiatry 5, 350–356 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000721

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000721

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links