Preclinical findings predict that buspirone should have antidepressant activity, related to partial agonism of 5-HT1A receptors. Buspirone induces a partial 5-HT syndrome in rats. It acts in rotational models of serotonergic activity.
Buspirone inhibits firing of dorsal raphe neurons while hyperpolarizing hippocampal pyramidal cells.
In behavioral experiments with rats, buspirone reverses learned helplessness and behavioral despair.