A neuropharmacological study of the periventricular neural substrate involved in flight

This paper reviews results obtained in experiments concerning the neurochemical characteristics of the substrate involved in the control of flight reactions and the induction of aversive effects in the rat. These experiments investigated the behavioural effects produced by microinjecting into the periaqueductal grey matter (PAG) or the medial hypothalamus (MH) compounds known to interfere with the functioning of some neurotransmitter systems known to exist in these structures. The data obtained show that: the activity of the substrate involved in the production of flight reactions is tonically inhibited by the release of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid); the behavioural reactions produced by microinjecting GABA antagonists can be clearly distinguished, depending on whether such drugs were injected into the PAG or the MH, despite the fact that jumps were produced from either level; behavioural effects, comparable to some extent to those produced by microinjections of GABA antagonists, can be obtained by injecting drugs which act on non-GABAergic neurochemical substrates, namely opioidergic or cholinergic systems; and behavioural effects, comparable to those produced by injecting GABA antagonists into the PAG, can be obtained by injecting such drugs into various sites located in other parts of the tectum such as the inferior colliculus or adjacent structures.