- Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1986 Apr;24(4):1101-9.
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Roles of catecholamine terminals and intrinsic neurons of the ventral tegmentum in self-stimulation investigated in neonatally dopamine-depleted rats.
Three series of experiments were undertaken to determine whether the residual catecholamine (CA) terminals or intrinsic neurons of ventral tegmentum (VT) in rats given 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) after desmethylimipramine (DMI) in the lateral ventricles at birth, mediated VT self-stimulation (SS). In Experiment I, male pups were injected bilaterally on days 3 and 5 with 6-OHDA (total dose 200 micrograms) or with the vehicle after pretreatment with DMI (50 mg/kg, IP) 30 min earlier. Each subject, 150 days old, was implanted bilaterally in the VT with electrode-cannula units. Both the dopamine (DA)-depleted and control groups yielded similar percentages of self-stimulators. The rate of responding was, however, slightly but significantly lower in the DA-depleted group than in the controls.
"Sympathectomy is a technique about which we have limited knowledge, applied to disorders about which we have little understanding." Associate Professor Robert Boas, Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australasian College of Anaesthetists and the Royal College of Anaesthetists, The Journal of Pain, Vol 1, No 4 (Winter), 2000: pp 258-260