Bilateral Cortical Ablations Attenuate Amphetamine-Induced Excitations of Neostriatal Motor-Related Neurons in Freely Moving Rats

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Neuroscience Letters

Volume

134

Issue

1

Publisher

Elsevier

Publication Date

1991

First Page

127

Last Page

130

Abstract

Single-unit recordings from neostriatal neurons showing movement-related excitations were obtained in freely moving, cortically ablated rats and sham-lesioned controls. d-Amphetamine (AMPH, 1.0 mg/kg s.c.) increased neuronal activity relative to resting baseline firing rates in both groups of animals, but cortical ablation significantly attenuated this effect. A behavioral clamping analysis, which compared neuronal activity during identically rated pre- and post-AMPH behaviors, revealed that: (a) AMPH enhanced movement-related neuronal activity in sham-lesioned controls, but not in cortically ablated rats; and (b) the drug-induced neuronal activation in control rats was not simply secondary to the behavioral activation produced by AMPH. In contrast to its neuronal effects, cortical ablation did not affect ratings of AMPH-induced locomotion, rearing, or head movements, though sniffing scores showed a postive correlation with lesion size. Thus, corticostriatal projections are critically involved in AMPH-induced excitations of neostriatal motor-related neurons.

Comments

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