Neuroanatomical and pharmacological evidence suggests that important modulatory relationships exist between mesostriatal dopaminergic terminals and corticostriatal inputs. The present study used in vivo microdialysis in awake animals to examine the results of pharmacological manipulations of these systems on net striatal dopamine (DA) efflux and behavioral activation. A single methamphetamine (m-AMPH) treatment induced a prolonged (greater than 6 h) increase (6-fold peak response) in extracellular striatal DA and increased stereotypic behavior. When given alone, the non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist MK-801 did not have a significant effect on extracellular striatal DA, but significantly increased stereotypic behaviors. Pretreatment with MK-801 markedly attenuated the m-AMPH-induced striatal DA overflow. In contrast to its effects on striatal DA overflow, MK-801 potentiated the locomotor effects of m-AMPH without reducing stereotypy rating scores. These findings suggest that the synaptic relationships between mesostriatal DA and corticostriatal excitatory amino acid terminals in the striatum are an important component in its behavioral output. Moreover, NMDA receptors appear to be capable of modulating striatal DA overflow.