Differential effects of forced locomotion, tail-pinch, immobilization, and methyl-beta-carboline carboxylate on extracellular 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid levels in the rat striatum, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex: an in vivo voltammetric study.

In vivo voltammetry with carbon fiber electrodes was used to assess extracellular 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) levels in striatum, nucleus accumbens, and anteromedial prefrontal cortex of freely moving rats subjected to altered motor activity or anxiogenic stimuli. Forced locomotion on a rotarod for 40 min caused an increase in extracellular DOPAC levels in the striatum and to a lesser extent in the nucleus accumbens but not in the prefrontal cortex. Subcutaneous injection of the anxiogenic agent methyl-beta-carboline carboxylate (10 mg/kg) increased extracellular DOPAC levels to a similar extent in prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens. Immobilization for 4 min augmented dopamine (DA) metabolism preferentially in the nucleus accumbens and to a lesser extent in the prefrontal cortex. Tail-pinch caused a selective activation of DA metabolism in the nucleus accumbens. None of these stimuli altered extracellular striatal DOPAC levels. These results confirm the involvement of dopaminergic systems projecting to the striatum and nucleus accumbens in motor function and suggest that mesolimbic and mesocortical dopaminergic systems can be specifically activated by certain kinds of anxiogenic stimuli; the relative activation of either of these latter systems could depend primarily on the nature (sensory modality, intensity) of the acute stressor.