Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 11, Issue 3, March 1979, Pages 335-339
Neuroscience Letters

Behavioral activation induced in the rat by substance P infusion into ventral tegmental area: Implication of dopaminergic A10 neurones

https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3940(79)90018-1Get rights and content

Abstract

The functional role of the putative transmitter substance P (SP) was studied using a behavioural approach. SP infusion into the ventral tegmental area in awake rats elicited an increase in locomotor activity which could be blocked by either infusion of a neuroleptic into the nucleus accumbens septi (NAS) or by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions of the ascending dopaminergic A10 neurones. Our results suggest that SP induces its behavioral effects through activation of dopaminergic A10 neurones, and imply that endogenous SP may have an important modulatory role.

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    The majority of these neurons feed back onto the substantia nigra (SN), a region that contains dopaminergic cell bodies and expresses NK1Rs (Futami et al., 1998; Le Moine and Bloch, 1995; Whitty et al., 1995). Infusion of SP or SP analogs into the SN or VTA stimulates the firing rate of these neurons and subsequent DA release in their terminal fields (Barnes et al., 1990; West and Michael, 1991), increases locomotor activity (Barnes et al., 1990; Eison et al., 1982; Elliott et al., 1992; Kelley et al., 1979; Placenza et al., 2004), and induces CPP (Boix et al., 1995; Nikolaus et al., 1999). The relative contribution of NK receptor subtypes to the effects of SP in the VTA and SN remains unclear, as the NK3R may also play a role.

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This work was presented in part at the II European Neuroscience Meeting, Florence, Sept. 4–9, 1978.

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