Abstract: A system for allowing animals to self administer drugs via intranasal absorption. The system comprises an aerosol dispersing apparatus (1) connected to a source of pressurized air (5) for ejecting a pharmaceutical composition contained in a reservoir (8) out of the aerosol dispersing apparatus nozzle head (3) and into a sensing chamber (12) when a sensor (16) detects the presence of an animal in the sensing chamber (12). The system can be used to study the addictiveness of new drugs as well as providing a model system for small animals, such as the mouse, to studying behavioral and physiological responses to addictive drugs.

Abstract: The method of testing the affect of neuroactive agents on cellular receptors is disclosed. The procedures comprise decapitating an invertebrate, in the disclosed tests a Drosophila melanogaster is used. A selected neuroactive agent is applied directly to the severed nerve cord of the invertebrate. The reaction of the invertebrate is observed in response to the application of the agent. The reaction of the invertebrate is an indication of the activities of the cellular receptors which react to the specific agents. The tested agents include dopamine, serotonin and octopamine and vertebrate drugs that act as D1-like receptor agonists, D1-like receptor antagonists, D2-like receptor agonists and D2-like receptor antagonist, and a vertebrate monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Other types of neuroactive agents are also used.