Effects of locus coeruleus lesions on the release of endogenous dopamine in the rat nucleus accumbens and caudate nucleus as determined by intracerebral microdialysis.

Bilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the rat locus coeruleus (a) depleted forebrain norepinephrine levels by 67%, (b) reduced the basal release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and caudate nucleus by 26% and 19%, respectively, and (c) reduced (+)-amphetamine-induced release in the nucleus accumbens and caudate nucleus. The locus coeruleus appears to exert a tonic excitatory influence on striatal and limbic dopamine release in vivo.