Caudate neuronal response to microiontophoretically injected morphine in naive and morphine-dependent rats

1. The response of caudate nucleus neurons to morphine was found to be dose-dependent and could be divided into two classes: neurons which responded monophasically either by increase or decrease in their firing rate, and neurons whose response can be described as biphasic, exhibiting increase followed by decrease in their firing rate or vice versa, with the increase in morphine concentration. These responses were found in both naive and morphine-dependent rats. 2. Naloxone antagonized the effects of morphine in 74 out of 102 neurons tested. 3. Caudate neurons of morphine-dependent rats showed super-sensitivity to morphine compared to naive rats. 4. Differences were found in the distribution of the spontaneously active neurons between naive and morphine-dependent rats, indicating the existence of two different opiate receptor populations within the caudate nucleus.