The development of response to continuous auditory stimulation in rats treated neonatally with 6-hydroxydopamine.
This study investigated biochemical substrates of the continuous stimulation effect, i.e. the developmental phenomenon whereby continuous stimulation depresses arousal level. Neonatal rats were injected intracisternally with 6-hydroxydopamine. Motility, heart rate, and brain amines were measured in theses animals, as well as in injected and noninjected control animals, at 14 and 28 days of age in an own-control design with and without continuous auditory stimulation. Brain norepinephrine was significantly and inversely related to the magnitude of the continuous stimulation effect and experimental-control differences increased with age. These results indicate that an intact catecholaminergic system is necessary for the mediation of increased arousal during stimulation.
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D006339:Heart Rate; D006892:Hydroxydopamines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011603:Psychophysiology; D051381:Rats; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism
D006892:Hydroxydopamines; D012701:Serotonin; D004298:Dopamine; D009638:Norepinephrine