Electrical stimulation of the ventral noradrenergic tract (VNAT) releases hypothalamic noradrenaline and stimulates prolactin secretion in ovariectomized female rats treated with oestrogen.

Electrical stimulation of the ventral noradrenergic tract (VNAT) caused a significant fall in the hypothalamic content of noradrenaline in ovariectomized female rats which had been treated with oestrogen. No similar effect was observed in the cerebral cortex, which implies that the stimulation did not affect the dorsal noradrenergic tract. In parallel experiments with groups of similarly treated rats, VNAT stimulation was found to increase release of prolactin from the pituitary gland, and this increase was significantly enhanced in animals which had been stressed by fasting for 3 days.