A triggered hyperkinesia induced in rats by lesions of the corpus striatum

The role of the corpus striatum (caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus) in movement control has been suggested to involve the modulation of sensory traffic to downstream motor mechanisms. We report that kainic acid lesions of the posterior corpus striatum, which preferentially spare fibers of passage while destroying striatopallidal neurons, produce a stimulus-sensitive movement pattern in rats that has a highly specific sensory trigger. The triggered choreic movement pattern is not a motor pathology per se, nor a response to diffuse states of arousal or stress, but rather is activated specifically in response to oral sensory stimulation. This sensory-specific hyperkinesia may be relevant to certain human sensorimotor pathologies.