Quantification of dopaminergic supersensitization using apomorphine-induced behavior in the mouse

Dose-response curves for apomorphine-induced behavior were determined in C57BL/6J mice with and without a 30 day treatment with 2.5 mg/kg/day haloperidol. The effect of the chronic neuroleptic, whether assessed by the dose-response curve for total ratings or by a multiple logistic method determining ED50's for transitions between individual stereotype ratings, was to shift the curve to the left by a factor of slightly less than 2. This estimate is considerably different from those using the rotational model and denervation as the supersensitizing stimulus. There was no indication of selective effects of the neuroleptic treatment on individual components of the behavioral response.