Neurochemical mechanisms of the dorsal pallidum in the antiaversive effects of anxiolytics in various models of anxiety.

In conditions in which rats had a free choice between dark and light chambers, microinjections of glutamic acid, serotonin, and campiron into the globus pallidus showed that these agents have antiaversive properties in a threatening situation test but not in an illuminated area test. Dopamine, apomorphine, GABA, chlordiazepoxide, phenibut, and indoter injected locally into this formation of the basal ganglia had no effect on the mechanisms of voluntary movement but counteracted anxiety states in both behavioral models. These results provide evidence that the monoaminergic and aminoacidergic systems of the dorsal pallidum have different functional roles in the operative regulation of behavior for aversive stimuli of different modalities. Prior intraperitoneal administration of functional antagonists of these synaptotropic substances and subsequent microinjection of transmitter monoamines and amino acids and their agonists into the globus pallidus demonstrated the selective involvement of the neurotransmitter systems of the dorsal pallidum in the antiaversive effects of anxiosedative and anxioselective substances.