[Behavioral and neurochemical changes in pups prenatally treated with methamphetamine]

Changes in behavior and central neurotransmitters were examined in pups prenatally treated with methamphetamine (MAP). Compared with the control pups, the following results were obtained in MAP pups : 1) No change was found in the development of the circadian rhythm of spontaneous locomotor activity; 2) Spontaneous locomotor activity was decreased, while vertical activity was increased significantly in the postnatal period from the 24th to 27th days; 3) No sensitization to the test dose of MAP was found regardless of the prenatal repeated MAP treatment; 4) Dopamine concentration and the number of specific 3H-spiperone binding sites decreased in the frontal cortex. These findings indicate that prenatal treatment with MAP does not produce a lasting sensitization to MAP, whereas it does produce changes in behavior coupled with a neurochemical change in the frontal cortex.