Abstract
To investigate the role of the nigrotectal pathway in the expression of the behavioral effects of increased dopamine transmission, the behavior of rats with lesions of the superior colliculus was studied in open-field and hole-board after systemic administration of d-amphetamine. The rats with collicular lesions had higher locomotor activity scores than controls after saline injections, and after all doses of amphetamine studied (0.5–24 mg/kg): the difference was particularly marked at the highest doses used (16 and 24 mg/kg). Stereotyped behavior, on the other hand, was less pronounced in the rats with collicular lesions, who unlike controls rarely showed stereotyped sniffing, head waving, or forepaw padding while moving about in either apparatus, and never licked or gnawed in the hole-board. This evidence suggests that the nigrotectal pathway may play a role in the expression of some of the stereotyped behaviors observed after the administration of dopamine agonists, but that it is not necessary for the increased locomotor activity produced by such drugs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Battig K, Schlatter J (1978) Effects of nicotine and amphetamine on maze exploration and on spatial memory by Roman high avoidance and Roman low avoidance rats. In: Battig K (ed) International workshop on behavioural effects of nicotine. Karger, Basel, p 38
Broadhurst PL (1960) Applications of biometrical genetics to the inheritance of behaviour. In: Eyseneck HJ (ed) Experiments in personality. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, p 3
Clavier RM, Atmadja S, Fibiger HC (1976) Nigrothalamic projections in the rat as demonstrated by orthograde and retrograde tracing techniques. Brain Res Bull 1:379–384
Crossman AR, Sambrook MA (1978) The neurological basis of motor asymmetry following unilateral nigrostriatal lesions in the rat: the effect of secondary superior colliculus lesions. Brain Res 159:211–213
Crossman AR, Sambrook MA, Gergies SW, Slater P (1977) The neurological basis of motor asymmetry following unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine brain lesions in the rat: the effect of motor decortication. J Neurol Sci 34:407–414
Dean P, Redgrave P, Pope SG, Donohoe TP (1979) Behavioural effects of kainic acid microinjected into the superior colliculus of rats. Neurosci Let Suppl 3:S 302
De Montis GM, Olianas MC, Serra G, Tagliamonte A, Scheel-Kruger J (1979) Evidence that a nigral gabaergic-cholinergic balance controls posture. Eur J Pharmacol 53:181–190
Di Chiara G, Porceddu ML, Morelli M, Mulus ML, Gessa GL (1979) Substantia nigra as an output station for striatal dopaminergic responses: Role of GABA-mediated inhibition of pars reticulata neurones. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 306:153–159
Ernst AM, Smelik PG (1966) Site of action of dopamine and apomorphine on compulsive gnawing behaviour. Experientia 22:837–838
File SE (1977) Effects of parachlorophenylalanine and amphetamine on habituation of exploration. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 6:151–156
File SE, Wardill AG (1975) Validity of head-dipping as a measure of exploration in a modified hole-board. Psychopharmacologia 44:53–59
Foreman NP, Goodale MA, Milner AD (1978) Nature of postoperative hyperactivity following lesions of the superior colliculus in the rat. Physiol Behav 21:157–160
Graybiel AM (1978) Organisation of the nigrotectal connection: an experimental tracer study in the cat. Brain Res 143:339–348
Hattori T, McGeer PL, Fibiger HC, McGeer EG (1973) On the source of GABA-containing terminals in the substantia nigra. Electron microscopic, autoradiographic and biochemical studies. Brain Res 54:103–114
Hopkins DA, Niessen LW (1976) Substantia nigra projections to the reticular formation, superior colliculus and central gray in the rat, cat and monkey. Neurosci Lett 2:253–259
Hess SM, Doepfner W (1961) Behavioural effects and brain amine content in rats. Arch Int Pharmarodyn Ther 134:89–99
Isaac W (1971) A study of the relationship between the visual system and the effects of d-amphetamine. Physiol Behav 6:157–159
Iversen SD (1977) Striatal function and stereotyped behaviour. In: Cools AR, Lohman AHM, van der Berken JHL (eds) Psychobiology of the striatum. North-Holland, Amsterdam, p 99
Jenner P, Leigh N, Marsden CD, Reavill C (1979) Superior colliculus lesions do not alter dopamine mediated circling behaviour. Br J Pharmacol 66:479
Kim JS, Bak IJ, Hassler R, Okada Y (1971) Role of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the extra-pyramidal motor system. 2. Some evidence for the existence of a type of GABA-rich strio-nigral neurons. Exp Brain Res 14:95–104
Konig JFR, Klippel RA (1963) The rar brain: a stereotaxis atlas of the forebrain and lower parts of the brainstem. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore
Leyland M, Robbins T, Joersen SP (1976) Locomotor activity and exploration. The use of traditional manipulations to dissociate these two behaviours in the rat. Anim Learn Behav 4:261–265
Marshall JF, Ungerstedt U (1977) Striatal efferent fibres play a role in maintaining rotational behaviour in the rat. Science 198:62–64
McGeer PL, McGeer EG (1975) The GABA system and function of the basal ganglia: Huntington's disease. In: Roberts E, Chase TN, Tower DB (eds) GABA in nervous system function. Raven New York, p 487
Mumford L, Teixeira AR, Kumar R (1979) Sources of variation in locomotor activity and stereotypy in rats treated with d-amphetamine. Psychopharmacology 62:241–246
Pelligrino LJ, Cusham AJ (1967) A stereotaxic atlas of the rat brain. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York
Perez de la Mora M, Fuxe K, Hokfelt T, Ljungdahl A (1975) Effect of apomorphine on the GABA turnover in the DA rich cell group of the mesencephalon. Evidence for the involvement of an inhibitory GABAergic feedback control of the ascending DA neurons. Neurosci Lett 1:109–114
Pijnenburg AJJ, Honig WMM, Van Rossum JM (1975) Inhibition of d-amphetamine-induced locomotor activity by injection of haloperidol into the nucleus accumbens of the rat. Psychopharmacologia 41:87–95
Pijnenberg AJJ, Honig WMM, Van Der Heyden JAM, Van Rossum JM (1976) Effects of chemical stimulation of the mesolimbic dopamine system upon locomotor activity. Eur J Pharmacol 35:45–58
Pope SG, Dean P (1979) Hyperactivity, aphagia and motor disturbance following lesions of superior colliculus and underlying tegmentum in rats. Behav Neurol Biol 27:433–453
Pope SG, Dean P, Redgrave P (1979) Action of amphetamine on hyperactivity produced by lesions of the superior colliculus in rats. Neurosci Lett Suppl 3:S247
Rinvik E, Grofova I, Ottersen OP (1976) Demonstration of nigrotectal and nigroreticular projections in the cat by axonal transport of proteins. Brain Res 112:388–394
Robbins TW (1977) A critique of the methods available for the measurement of spontaneous motor activity. In: Iversen LL, Iversen SD, Snyder SH (eds) Handbook of psychopharmacology, Vol 7. Plenum, New York, p 37
Scheel-Kruger J, Arnt J, Magelund G (1977) Behavioural stimulation induced by miscimal and other GABA agonists injected into the substantia nigra. Neurosci Lett 4:351
Schiorring E (1971) Amphetamine induced selective stimulation of certain behaviour items with concurrent inhibition of others in an open-field test with rats. Behaviour 39:1–16
Siegel S (1956) Non-parametric statistics for the behavioural sciences. McGraw-Hill, New York, p 96
Smith CJ, Weldon DA (1976) Hyperactivity and deficits in problem solving following superior colliculus lesions in the rat. Physiol Behav 16:381–385
Tulloch IF, Arbuthnott GW, Wright AK (1978) Topographical organization of the striatonigral pathway revealed by anterograde and retrograde neuroanatomical tracing techniques. J Anat 127:425–441
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pope, S.G., Dean, P. & Redgrave, P. Dissociation of d-amphetamine-induced locomotor activity and stereotyped behaviour by lesions of the superior colliculus. Psychopharmacology 70, 297–302 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427890
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427890