[3H]Dihydrotetrabenazine [3H]TBZOH, a high affinity ligand of the monoamine vesicular transporter, has been used to study by autoradiography the development of monoaminergic synaptic vesicles from birth to adulthood, in the rat brain. The study was focused on dopaminergic areas. Binding sites for [3H]TBZOH were already detectable in 1-day-old rats, and the affinity for the ligand was identical in the striatum of 8-day-old and adult rats. The density of binding sites almost attained the adult level at day 20 postnatal in regions rich in dopaminergic cell bodies (substantia nigra pars compacta and ventral tegmental area), as well as in the lateral septum. In the striatum, nucleus accumbens, and olfactory tubercle, the increase in binding sites density was progressive from birth to adulthood. This increase was more pronounced in the olfactory tubercle.