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The Journal of Neuroscience, January 15, 2001, 21(2):668-675

Behavioral Activation in Rats Requires Endogenous Ascorbate Release in Striatum

George V. Rebec and Zhongrui Wang

Program in Neural Science, Department of Psychology, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47405

Ascorbate (vitamin C) is found in high concentrations in the striatum in which it may play a role in behavioral activation. To test this hypothesis, freely behaving rats received bilateral intrastriatal infusions of ascorbate oxidase (AAO) to inactivate extracellular ascorbate. Slow-scan voltammetry was used simultaneously to assess changes in ascorbate and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), a major dopamine metabolite, near the infusion site. Intrastriatal AAO, but not saline vehicle, caused a rapid decline in both ascorbate and behavioral activation. Within 20 min, an ascorbate loss of 50-70% led to a near-total inhibition of all recorded behavior, including open-field locomotion, approach of novel objects, and social interactions with other rats. DOPAC levels remained stable, arguing against an AAO-induced disruption of dopamine transmission. Consistent with this interpretation, subsequent injection of 1.0 mg/kg d-amphetamine, an indirect dopamine agonist, quickly restored behavioral activation, which also was accompanied by a marked rise in extracellular ascorbate. Bilateral AAO infusions into dorsal hippocampus, which also has a high level of extracellular ascorbate, failed to alter behavioral activation, indicating that a loss of brain ascorbate per se does not suppress behavior. Collectively, these results implicate ascorbate in the behavioral operations of the striatum and suggest that the extracellular level of this vitamin plays a critical role in behavioral activation.

Key words: amphetamine; ascorbate; ascorbate oxidase; behavioral activation; dopamine; glutamate; striatum; vitamin C; voltammetry

Copyright © 2001 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/01/212668-08$05.00/0


This article has been cited by other articles:


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G. V. Rebec, S. J. Barton, and M. D. Ennis
Dysregulation of Ascorbate Release in the Striatum of Behaving Mice Expressing the Huntington's Disease Gene
J. Neurosci., January 15, 2002; 22(2): RC202 - RC202.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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