The role of the midbrain reticular formation in the expression of two opposing nigral denervation syndromes.
The present study investigated the role of the midbrain reticular formation (MRF) in the expression of opposing locomotor asymmetries elicited from the medial and lateral substantia nigra pars compacta (SNC). It was found that unilateral MRF lesions produced ipsiversive circling that was potentiated by amphetamine. Lateral SNC lesions produced contraversive circling while medial SNC lesions caused ipsiversive circling. When SNC lesions were combined with MRF lesions animals circled ipsiversively as they did with MRF lesions alone regardless of whether the SNC lesion was in the medial or lateral part of the SNC. Taken together, the results are consistent with the notion that a striato-nigral-MRF system is an output path for circling derived from both the medial and lateral SNC.
D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology; D003913:Dextroamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D012154:Reticular Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
D003913:Dextroamphetamine; D004298:Dopamine