Conditioning compensates the neglect due to unilateral 6-OHDA lesions of substantia nigra in rats

Unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of meso-striatal dopamine neurons and their physiological sequelae

One of the primary approaches in experimental brain research is to investigate the effects of specific destruction of its parts. Here, several neurotoxins are available which can be used to eliminate neurons of a certain neurochemical type or family. With respect to the study of dopamine neurons in the brain, especially within the basal ganglia, the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) provides an important tool. The most common version of lesion induced with this toxin is the unilateral lesion placed in the area of mesencephalic dopamine somata or their ascending fibers, which leads to a lateralized loss of striatal dopamine. This approach has contributed to neuroscientific knowledge at the basic and clinical levels, since it has been used to clarify the neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, and electrophysiology of mesencephalic dopamine neurons and their relationships with the basal ganglia. Furthermore, unilateral 6-OHDA lesions have been used to investigate the role of these dopamine neurons with respect to behavior, and to examine the brain's capacity to recover from or compensate for specific neurochemical depletions. Finally, in clinically-oriented research, the lesion has been used to model aspects of Parkinson's disease, a human neurodegenerative disease which is neuronally characterized by a severe loss of the meso-striatal dopamine neurons. In the present review, which is the first of two, the lesion's effects on physiological parameters are being dealt with, including histological manifestations, effects on dopaminergic measures, other neurotransmitters (e.g. GABA, acetylcholine, glutamate), neuromodulators (e.g. neuropeptides, neurotrophins), electrophysiological activity, and measures of energy consumption. The findings are being discussed especially in relation to time after lesion and in relation to lesion severeness, that is, the differential role of total versus partial depletions of dopamine and the possible mechanisms of compensation. Finally, the advantages and possible drawbacks of such a lateralized lesion model are discussed.

The role of dopamine in drug abuse viewed from the perspective of its role in motivation

Drugs of abuse share with conventional reinforcers the activation of specific neural pathways in the CNS that are the substrate of their motivational properties. Dopamine is recognized as the transmitter of one such neural pathway, being involved in at least three major aspects of motivation: modulation of motivational state, acquisition (incentive learning) and expression of incentive properties by motivational stimuli. Drugs of abuse of different pharmacological classes stimulate in the low dose range dopamine transmission particularly in the ventral striatum. Apart from psychostimulants, the evidence that stimulation of dopamine transmission by drugs of abuse provides the primary motivational stimulus for drug self-administration is either unconvincing or negative. However, stimulation of dopamine transmission is essential for the activational properties of drugs of abuse and might be instrumental for the acquisition of responding to drug-related incentive stimuli (incentive learning). Dopamine is involved in the induction and in the expression of behavioural sensitization by repeated exposure to various drugs of abuse. Sensitization to the dopamine-stimulant properties of specific drug classes leading to facilitation of incentive learning of drug-related stimuli might account for the strong control over behaviour exerted by these stimuli in the addiction state. Withdrawal from drugs of abuse results in a reduction in basal dopamine transmission in vivo and in reduced responding for conventional reinforcers. Although these changes are likely to be the expression of a state of dependence of the dopamine system their contribution to the motivational state of drug addiction is unclear.

Role of the nucleus accumbens and the striatum in the production of turning behaviour in intact rats

Recent knowledge of the mechanisms underlying turning or circling behaviour in intact rats is reviewed. Most interest has been directed towards the striatum because of the classical hypothesis that turning behaviour results from lateral differences in the activity of the bilateral nigrostriatal pathway. However, the assumption that asymmetrical activation of the striatum is a necessary condition for dopamine-dependent turning behaviour has been questioned by several studies showing that unilateral injection of amphetamine or dopamine receptor agonists into the nucleus accumbens, a target of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, also produces reliable circling away from the side of injection. Apart from discussing differences in stepping patterns of turning and discussing the role of the dopamine D1/D2 receptor interaction, the present survey focuses attention upon the two-component hypothesis, especially in relation to our recent studies in which activities of dopamine D1 and D2 receptors in the striatum and the nucleus accumbens have been manipulated separately in intact rats. It is hypothesized that turning behaviour is produced by asymmetry within nucleus accumbens circuits which involve neuronal connections from the nucleus accumbens to the A9 cell area, which in turn projects to the ventrolateral striatum that determines the direction of turning.

The basal ganglia and pain

The basal ganglia are associated with motor functions of the brain, although it is becoming clear that they may subserve many nonmotor functions as well. A review of the literature reveals an association between the basal ganglia and pain, and raises the question of a new function for the basal ganglia in selective attention.

How does the brain control its own activity? A new function for the basal ganglia

It has long been a problem in neuroscience to known how the brain controls its own activity, how it is able to control the level of CNS excitability and how it is able to select and act on some information as opposed to some other information. In this paper I propose a new theory in which the basal ganglia play a role in selecting information ("selective attention") and in controlling the general level of excitability of the CNS ("state control"), the two processes being to some extent interdependent. The basal ganglia achieve these functions by actions on the thalamic-frontal cortical axis and on the brainstem mesencephalic reticular formation.

Neophobia, conditioned taste aversion and EEG arousal after globus pallidus lesion

Rats with unilateral or bilateral electrolytic lesions in the globus pallidus (GP) became aphagic and adipsic. Aphagia and adipsia lasted 2-3 days in rats with unilateral lesion, but were more persistent in animals with bilateral lesions. EEG arousal induced by nociceptive stimuli applied to the side of the body contralateral to the unilateral pallidal lesion was of shorter duration than that induced by ipsilateral stimulation; no difference was found between rats injured in left or right (GP). Total exploratory activity of rats with symmetrical or asymmetrical lesions, exposed to a novel environment for ten min, was not different from that of the control group, but the exploratory activity measured in a 60 sec block showed trends in the two injured groups being different than those in the controls. Rats with unilateral right or bilateral lesions showed a lower level of neophobia for saccharin than controls. Acquisition of conditioned taste aversion was similar in lesioned rats and controls, but extinction of the conditioned taste aversion was slower in the intact than in the injured animals.

Motor impairment after unilateral electrolytic lesions of the substantia nigra in baboons: behavioral data with quantitative and kinematic analysis of a pointing movement

Unilateral electrolytic lesions of the substantia nigra (SN) were carried out stereotaxically on 4 baboons which had been previously trained to perform a visually guided pointing movement. For a few days after operation, all animals exhibited a behavioral impairment affecting the contralateral body half and consisting of dystonic flexed posture and akinesia. The animals were thus unable to perform the pointing task with the contralateral hand. After a delay which depended on the extent of the SN lesion, the animals began to make the pointing movement again. Postoperative changes were then observed only on the side opposite the SN lesion. These consisted of an increase in the latency and particularly the duration of the movement without any change in the accuracy. The kinematic analysis of the hand trajectory showed that the contralateral increase in the movement duration corresponded to a regular decrease in the velocities. Study of the recovery over 120 days after SN lesion showed a progressive improvement which was faster with regard to movement duration than to movement latency. These data clearly point to the functional role of the SN in the initiation and particularly in the execution of movement. Quantitative and kinematic analysis of this pointing movement makes it possible to detect and quantify very closely the changes in movement program and execution induced by a SN lesion. This experimental model will be useful for pharmacological in vivo studies allowing a more specific assessment of the functional role of the neurotransmitters involved in SN dysfunction.

The role of dopamine in locomotor activity and learning

The discovery that the brain contains neurons utilizing dopamine (DA) as their transmitter has led to studies of the behavioral function of these neurons. Changes in overall level of activity of DA neurons appear to produce parallel changes in locomotor activity. Additionally, DA neurons seem to mediate in part the effects of biologically significant (reinforcing) stimuli on learning. One way in which reinforcing stimuli produce learning is to increase the incentive motivational (response-eliciting) properties of neutral stimuli associated with them; also, reinforcing stimuli maintain the incentive motivational properties of previously conditioned incentive stimuli. Normal DA functioning appears to be required for the establishment and maintenance of incentive learning in naive animals. Previous incentive learning in trained animals can influence behavior for a time even when the function of DA neurons is disrupted; however, with continued testing in the absence of normal DA functioning, previously established conditioned incentive stimuli cease to influence behavior. From these observations and recent physiological, anatomical and biochemical studies of DA systems it is suggested that the biological substrate of DA-mediated incentive learning is a heterosynaptic facilitation of muscarinic cholinergic synapses. This model has important clinical implications since it has been suggested that DA hyperfunctioning underlies the development of schizophrenia.

Bradykinesia following unilateral lesions restricted to the substantia nigra in the baboon

Unilateral lesions were made in the substantia nigra of baboons which had been previously trained to carry out a visually guided pointing movement. During the early post-operative period, the animals were unable to perform the task with the contralateral forelimb because of the severity of the akinesia affecting it. After one or two weeks, the animals began to make the movement; at this time, there was a purely contralateral increase in the latency and particularly the duration of the movement, while its accuracy remained unchanged.

An analysis of visual object reversal learning in the marmoset after amphetamine and haloperidol

The effect of amphetamine and haloperidol pretreatment on visual object reversal learning was assessed in the marmoset. Amphetamine induced perseverative responding demonstrated by high reversal learning scores and worse than chance performance in the early stages of reversal. This perseverative responding was prevented by pretreatment with haloperidol. Haloperidol, either alone or in conjunction with amphetamine caused a mild, non-perseverative impairment on reversal learning only.