Dopaminergic involvement in attention a novel animal model

Abstract

• 1.

  1. Adult male outbred albino mice were acutely injected with either of two dopamine (DA) agonists; Apomorphine, a receptor agonist, or Amantadine, a DA releasing agent.

• 2.

  2. Both drugs produced dose-related alterations in initial Y-maze behavior, consisting of significantly increased proportions of 2-arm entries.

• 3.

  3. This behavior has previously been shown to reflect an abnormal attentional process.

• 4.

  4. Thus DA activation may cause sensory perseveration.

• 5.

  5. The implications of this finding for DA theories of psychopathology is discussed.