Kainic acid induced lesion of ventral tegmental area: locomotor effect of apomorphine

Kainic acid induced lesion of dopaminergic ventral tegmental area (KA-A10) result in a permanent behavioral syndrome in the rat in which locomotor hyperactivity is the most typical symptom. Apomorphine in low doses (0.125 and 0.25 mg/kg i.p.) was as active as haloperidol (0.25 mg/kg i.p.) in abolishing this locomotor hyperactivity while higher doses of apomorphine were less active. The KA-A10 lesion is discussed as a model of mesolimbic/mesocortical dopaminergic hyperactivity.