Abstract
Several studies on mice have demonstrated a correlation between the concentrations of dopamine and its metabolites in the nucleus accumbens and asymmetry in forelimb preference. Dopamine concentrations were greater in the nucleus accumbens ipsilateral in relation to the preferred paw. Limb preference was demonstrated in rats during performance of a response consisting of withdrawing food from a horizontal tube. Brain tissue dopamine concentrations were estimated by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The results showed that in “left-handed” rats, the dopamine concentration in the left nucleus accumbens was significantly greater than that in “right-handed” rats. In right-handed rats, the dopamine concentration in the right nucleus accumbens was greater than that in the left. The results obtained here are significantly consistent with data obtained in mice and support the suggestion that the dopamine level in rats is greater in the nucleus accumbens ipsilateral to the preferred limb.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
V. L. Bianki, “Lateral specialization in the brains of animals,” Fiziol. Zh. SSSR, 66, No. 11, 1593–1607 (1980).
M. E. Ioffe, E. V. Pletneva, and I. S. Stashkevich, “The nature of functional motor asymmetry in animals: the state of the question,” Zh. Vyssh. Nerv. Deyat., 52, No. 1, 5–16 (2002).
I. S. Midzyanovskaya, G. D. Kuznetsova, L. Tuomisto, Yu. MacDonald, M. A. Kulikov, and A. S. Bazyan, “The concentrations of dopamine and its metabolites in various brain structures in WAG/Rij and Wistar rats: comparative analysis of audiogenic and absence epilepsy and their mixed formed,” Neirokhimiya, 21, No. 4, 254–260 (2004).
I. S. Stashkevich and M. A. Kulikov, “Reorganization of bimanual motor reactions on formation of a lateralized food-procuring skill in rats,” Zh. Vyssh. Nerv. Deyat., 56, No. 1, 95–101 (2006).
I. Belcheva, J. B. Bryer, S. E. Starkstein, M. Honig, T. H. Moran, and R. G. Robinson, “Hemispheric asymmetry in behavioral response to Dl and D2 receptor agonists in the nucleus accumbens,” Brain Res., 533, No. 2, 286–291 (1990).
H. W. Berendse, Y. Galis-de Graaf, and H. J. Groenewegen, “Topographical organization and relationship with ventral striatal compartments of prefrontal corticostriatal projections in the rat,” J. Comp. Neurol., 316, No. 3, 314–347 (1992).
C. Besson and A. Louilot, “Asymmetrical involvement of mesolimbic dopaminergic neurons in affective perception,” Neurosci., 68, No. 4, 963–968 (1995).
F. Boix, P. Sandor, P. J. Nogueira, J. P. Huston, and R. K. Schwarting, “Relationship between dopamine release in nucleus accumbens and place preference induced by substance P injected into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis region,” Neurosci., 64, No. 4, 1045–1055 (1995).
J. S. Brog, A. Salyapongse, A. Y. Deutch, and Z. S. Dahm, “The patterns of afferent innervation of the core and shell in the “accumbens” part of the rat ventral striatum: immunohistochemical detection of retrogradely transported fluoro-gold,” J. Comp. Neurol., 338, 255–278 (1993).
S. Cabib, F. R. Amato, P. J. Neveu, B. Deleplanque, M. Le Moal, and S. Puglisi-Allegra, “Paw preference and brain dopamine asymmetries,” Neurosci., 64, No. 2, 427–432 (1995).
G. Di Chiara and V. Bassareo, “Reward system and addiction: what dopamine does and doesn't do,” Curr. Opin. Pharmacol., 7, No. 1, 69–76 (2007).
S. D. Glick and J. N. Carlson, “Regional changes in brain dopamine and serotonin metabolism induced by conditioned circling in rats: effects of water deprivation, learning and individual differences in asymmetry,” Brain Res., 504, No. 2, 231–237 (1989).
H. J. Groenewegen, Y. Galis-de Graaf, and W. J. Smeets, “Integration and segregation of limbic cortico-striatal loops at the thalamic level: an experimental tracing study in rats,” J. Chem. Neuroanat., 16, No. 3, 167–185 (1999).
H. J. Groenewegen, C. I. Wright, A. V. Beijer, and P. Voorn, “Convergence and segregation of ventral striatal inputs and outputs,” Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 877, 49–63 (1999).
P. J. Hernandez, M. E. Andrzejewski, K. Sadeghian, J. B. Panksepp, and A. E. Kelley, “AMPA/kainate, NMDA, and dopamine Dl receptor function in the nucleus accumbens core: a context-limited role in the encoding and consolidation of instrumental memory,” Learn. Mem., 12, No. 3, 285–295 (2005).
S. Ikemoto and J. Panskepp, “The role of nucleus accumbens dopamine in motivated behavior: unifying interpretation with special reference to reward-seeking,” Brain Res. Rev., 31, No. 1, 6–41 (1999).
T. P. Gerussi and D. S. Glick, “Drug-induced rotation in rats without lesions: behavioral and neurochemical indices of a normal asymmetry in nigro-striatal function,” Psychopharmacology (Berlin), 47, No. 3, 249–260 (1976).
T. J. Jerussi and S. D. Glick, “Apomorphine-induced rotation in normal rats and interaction with unilateral caudate lesions,” Psychopharmacology, 40, No. 4, 329–334 (1975).
P. W. Kalivas and N. D. Volkow, “The neural basis of addiction: a pathology of motivation and choice,” Amer. J. Psychiatry, 162, No. 8, 1403–1413 (2005).
M. Kitamura, N. Koshikawa, N. Yoneshige, and A. R. Cools, “Behavioural and neurochemical effects of cholinergic and dopaminergic agonists administered into the accumbal core and shell in rats,” Neuropharmacology, 38, No. 9, 1397–1407 (1999).
N. Koshikawa, Y. Yoshida, M. Kitamura, T. Saigusa, M. Kobayashi, and A. R. Cools, “Stimulation of acetylcholine or dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens differentially alters dopamine release in the striatum of freely moving rats,” Eur. J. Pharmacol., 303, No. 1–2, 13–19 (1996).
A. Louilot and M. K. Choulli, “Asymmetrical increases in dopamine turn-over in the nucleus accumbens and lack of changes in locomotor responses following unilateral dopaminergic depletions in the entorhinal cortex,” Brain Res., 778, No. 1, 150–157 (1997).
A. Louilot and M. Le Moal, “Lateralized interdependence between limbicotemporal and ventrostriatal dopaminergic transmission,” Neurosci., 59, No. 3, 495–500 (1994).
G. J. Mogenson, L. W. Swanson, and M. Wu, “Neural projections from nucleus accumbens to globus pallidus, substantia innominata, and lateral preoptic-lateral hypothalamic area: an anatomical and electrophysiological investigation in the rat,” J. Neurosci., 3, No. 1, 189–202 (1983).
E. Morice, C. Denis, B. Giros, and M. Nosten-Bertrand, “Constitutive hyperdopaminergia is functionally associated with reduced behavioral lateralization,” Neuropsychopharmacology, 30, No. 3, 575–581 (2005).
W. J. Nauta, G. P. Smith, R. L. Faull, and V. B. Domesick, “Efferent connections and nigral afferents of the nucleus accumbens septi in the rat,” Neurosci., 3, No. 4–5, 385–401 (1978).
D. M. Nielsen, K. E. Visker, M. J. Cunningham, R. W. Keller, Jr., S. D. Glick, and J. N. Carlson, “Paw preference, rotation, and dopamine function in Collins HI and LO mouse strains,” Physiol. Behav., 61, No. 4, 525–535 (1997).
G. M. Peterson, “Mechanisms of handedness in the rat,” Comp. Psychol. Monogr., 9, 1–34 (1934).
R. G. Robinson and A. Justice, “Mechanisms of lateralized hyperactivity following focal brain injury in the rat,” Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav., 25, No. 1, 263–267 (1986).
S. E. Starkstein, T. H. Moran, J. A. Bowersox, and R. G. Robinson, “Behavioral abnormalities induced by frontal cortical and nucleus accumbens lesions,” Brain Res., 473, No. 1, 74–80 (1988).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
__________
Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 57, No. 5, pp. 598–603, September–October, 2007.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Budilin, S.Y., Midzyanovskaya, I.S., Shchegolevskii, N.V. et al. Asymmetry in dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens and motor preference in rats. Neurosci Behav Physi 38, 991–994 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-008-9082-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-008-9082-6