Ethanol induced differences in medial prefrontal cortex dopamine asymmetryand in nucleus accumbens dopamine metabolism in left- and right-turning rats

Ethanol(0.5 g/kg i.p.) 15 min prior to sacrifice increased homovanillic aci d (HVA) levels in the left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of left-turning rats and in the right mPFC of right-turning rats. In the nucleus accumbens (NAS), ethanol decreased dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOP AC), and HVA levels in rats that exhibited low levels of locomotor activity but not in rats that exhibited high levels of locomotor activity. This lab oratory has previously shown that rats exhibiting differences in turning an d locomotor activity behavior display different preferences for ethanol. Th e present results suggest that ethanol-induced differences in mPFC and NAS DA activity may be related to individual differences in the susceptibility to abuse ethanol. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.