Psychopharmacology
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Comparative Study
Responses of neurons in dorsal striatum during amphetamine-induced focused stereotypy.
The phase of highly focused, repetitive behavior (stereotypy) induced by amphetamine in rats emerges after an initial period of locomotor activation. To assess the neuronal correlates of this behavioral transition, single-unit activity was recorded from the dorsal striatum of awake, unrestrained rats. Units were first characterized in terms of their responsiveness to spontaneous movement. ⋯ Previous assessments of neuron-behavior relationships have shown that changes in motor-related neuronal activity are not secondary to amphetamine-induced behavioral changes, though this finding may not apply in all cases. At doses capable of eliciting focused stereotypy, therefore, amphetamine appears to trigger a complex pattern of striatal activity that governs the behavioral response. This conclusion supports steadily increasing evidence that the role of striatal neurons in amphetamine-induced focused stereotypy is shaped by multiple synaptic mechanisms.