Mesocortical vs nigrostriatal dopamine uptake in isolated fighting mice

Preferential uptake of dopamine occurred in mesocortical vs striatal synaptosomes obtained from acutely fighting isolated male ICR mice. Specifically, both Km and Vmax were significantly increased in the prefrontal cortex but not the caudate-putamen. The findings are similar to selective changes in mesocortical activity produced by various 'affective' stimuli as reported by others and they signal that higher DA emotive centers are importantly involved in agonistic behavior.