title: Role of alpha1- and alpha2-adrenoceptors in the regulation of locomotion and spatial behavior in the active place avoidance task: a dose-response study.
abstract: Studies on the neurotransmitter substrate of locomotion and place navigation occupy a central position in behavioral neuroscience. Active allothetic place avoidance (AAPA) is a task, in which animals are trained to avoid a room frame defined stable sector on a continuously rotating arena. The aim of the present study was to test the effect of the blockage of alpha1- and alpha2-adrenoceptors, using specific antagonists prazosin and idazoxan, on the locomotor activity and spatial behavior in the AAPA task. Both prazosin and idazoxan at the highest doses (4 and 6 mg/kg, respectively) were found to decrease the locomotor activity in the AAPA and they also impaired navigational performance. The results suggest that antagonizing alpha-adrenoceptors with systemically administered drugs affects locomotor activity together with avoidance behavior and does not cause a purely cognitive deficit in the AAPA task.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology of Memory and Computational Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic. stuchlik@biomed.cas.cz
authors.forename: Ales
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stuchlik
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vales
mesh_terms: D058668:Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists; D058669:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Antagonists; D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D019329:Idazoxan / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011224:Prazosin / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D011942:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018340:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D018341:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D058668:Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists; D058669:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Antagonists; D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; D011942:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha; D018340:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1; D018341:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-2; D011224:Prazosin; D019329:Idazoxan