Locomotor behavior following kindling in three different brain sites

Spontaneous and drug-induced interictal and post-ictal locomotor behavior of rats was investigated following electrical 'kindling' of different limbic structures at 3 brain sites which differ in the relative amount of innervation from dopamine cells of the ventral tegmentum: nucleus accumbens (N.Acc.), amygdala (AMYG), and dorsal hippocampus (DHPC). Kindling produced decreases in spontaneous post-ictal locomotion that did not appear to depend on the site of stimulation, but produced region specific attenuations in spontaneous interictal behavior as well as amphetamine-induced interictal and post-ictal responses. The most dramatic decreases were seen in N.Acc. kindled animals and the least dramatic were seen in rats kindled via DHPC. These data suggest that the mesolimbic dopamine system may participate in the changes in locomotion seen following kindled seizures, and may also provide a model for the study of human post-ictal and interictal behavior.