Noradrenergic processes involved in the locomotor effects of ethanol

Male albino Wistar rats were depleted of forebrain noradrenaline by intracerebral injection of 4 microgram of 6-hydroxydopamine into the noradrenaline bundles in the mesencephalon. The locomotor response was examined in response to intraperitoneal injection of ethanol. The locomotor stimulation by 0.1 g/kg ethanol was not altered by the lesion, whereas the sedation found in response to 1 g/kg in controls failed to occur in the lesioned rats and instead a stimulation was seen.