Plasticity of responses to synaptic inputs in rat ventral striatal neurons after repeated administration of the dopamine D2 antagonist raclopride
✍ Scribed by David M. Finch
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 51 KB
- Volume
- 31
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0887-4476
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✦ Synopsis
The effects of acute and repeated systemic administration of the dopaminergic D2 antagonist raclopride on responses of ventral striatal neurons were examined in chloral hydrate-anesthetized rats. Stimulating electrodes were placed in the entorhinal and perirhinal cortices, medial thalamus, and prelimbic cortex. Stimulation in water-injected control rats evoked one or occasionally two action potentials. Results were similar in rats injected acutely with raclopride (4 or 8 mg/kg) except that a small proportion of cells (5%) produced burst responses (defined as three or more evoked action potentials). In rats injected with raclopride daily for 7-14 days, burst responses were seen in a larger proportion of cells (17%) and bursts of up to nine action potentials could be evoked. The results suggest that repeated administration of dopaminergic agents can induce striking plastic changes of excitatory responses in a subset of ventral striatal neurons.