No change in neostriatal D-2 dopamine receptors after NMDA lesions of rat prefrontal cortex

D-2 dopamine receptor function in rat nucleus accumbens and anterior corpus striatum was examined 6-8 days following N-methyl-D-aspartate lesions confined to medial prefrontal cortex. Lesions failed to alter the affinity or density of D-2 receptors labelled by [3H]spiperone in membrane preparations of both subcortical areas. Locomotor activity and stereotyped behaviours induced by the D-2 agonist, LY-171555, were also not significantly altered in lesioned animals. These results suggest that D-2 dopamine receptors of nucleus accumbens and anterior corpus striatum are not localized on corticofugal afferents from medial prefrontal cortex.