The role of dopamine in maintaining intracranial self-stimulation in the ventral tegmentum, nucleus accumbens, and medial prefrontal cortex.

Male albino Wistar rats were prepared with 2 chronic bipolar electrodes implanted ipsilaterally in the ventral tegmentum and either the nucleus accumbens or the medial prefrontal cortex. Once stable intracranial self-stimulation was elicited from both midbrain and forebrain electrodes, 6-hydroxydopamine lesions were placed into the ascending dopaminergic pathways between the rewarding electrode placements at the level of the lateral hypothalamus. Data suggest that dopamine plays an important role in self-stimulation in the ventral tegmentum and contributes to this behavior in the prefrontal cortex. Findings also show that nondopaminergic systems contribute to the phenomenon of brain-stimulation reward. (French summary) (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)