Behavioral effects of amphetamine in rats with lesions in the corpus striatum.

Abstract

Conducted 5 experiments, using a total of 132 male albino Sprague-Dawley rats. Lesions in the ventral striatum lowered forebrain dopamine and impaired avoidance behavior more severely than comparable lesions in the dorsal striatum. Ventral striatal damage also antagonized the effects of amphetamine on stereotyped behavior and on intertrial activity. Lesions in the dorsal striatum did not modify the effect of amphetamine in these tests. Neither dorsal nor ventral striatal lesions significantly depleted forebrain norepinephrine, and both failed to affect the facilitatory effects of amphetamine on exploratory activity in an open field. These observations support the hypothesis that some but not all of the behavioral effects of amphetamine may be due to the drug's action on dopaminergic components of the striatum. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)