Effect of intraventricular nadolol infusion on shock-induced aggression in 6-hydroxydopamine-treated rats.

Increasingly, beta blockers are being utilized to treat patients with aggressive disorders secondary to brain lesions. To secure further data about the potential efficacy of beta blockers for this condition, a rat model was employed in which aggression was enhanced by 6-hydroxydopamine. Following lesioning of the brain, aggression in the rats increased from an average baseline of 10.9 +/- 2.1 to 42.7 +/- 2.0 fights per testing period. Thereafter, either pharmacologically inert, artificial CSF or nadolol was introduced through transcerebral, intraventricular perfusion with a significant reduction in aggression in the nadolol-treated animals when compared with those receiving artificial CSF.