N-METHYL-D-ASPARTATE RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST MK-801 INDUCED CIRCLING BEHAVIOR IN RATS WITH UNILATERAL STRIATAL ISCHEMIC LESIONS OR NIGRAL 6-HYDROXYDOPAMINE LESIONS

The present study shows that systemic administration of the selective, non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist MK-801 hyl-10,11-dihy droxy-5H-dibenzo(a,d)-cyclohepten-5, 10-imine] dose-dependently induce s ipsiversive rotational behavior in the rats with a unilateral striat al lesion produced by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion or in those with a unilateral nigrostriatal lesion produced by 6-hydroxydop amaine. In relation to a functional model of the basal ganglia-thalamo cortical 'motor' circuit, the present data suggest that the striatum m ay be one of the most important sites where. MK-801 acts in the basal ganglia, with its being responsible for the circling behavior of the a nimal models.