CHRONIC HALOPERIDOL - NEURAL CORRELATES OF MOTOR DISORDERS IN AN INVERTEBRATE MODEL

TO analyse the mechanisms underlying chronic effects of antipsychotic drugs, a simpler invertebrate preparation is proposed. Bathing of leec hes for three days in a 1.0 muM aqueous haloperidol (HAL) solution res ulted in (i) discoordination of locomotion, including the inability of the Posterior sucker to successfully attach to the substratum, and (i i) transmitter depletion in all putative dopamine (DA) neurones of the sucker and in some, but not all, DA neurones of middle body segments. Both behavioural restoration and cellular DA recovery were observed i n disabled animals after bathing in 1.25 nM L-DOPA solution. We conclu de that chronic HAL-produced motor disorders are causally related to D A deficiency.