Correlations of motility, defecatory behavior and striatal dopaminergic activity in rats.

The spontaneous motor activity, fecal pellet scores and content of dopamine and its metabolites, dihydroxyphenyl acetic acid and homovanillic acid in corpus striatum were measured in a group of randomly selected Sprague-Dawley rats. The spontaneous motility, fecal pellet scores and neurochemical parameters measured showed significant variations. The correlations between these parameters were investigated. A significant correspondence was seen between the motility, fecal pellet scores and the striatal dopaminergic activity. The implications of the behavioral models of motility and defecation scores in studying the central dopaminergic function is discussed. It is suggested that striatal dopaminergic activity may be responsible not only for motor activity but also may contribute to the de novo emotionality as expressed by the defecation scores in rats.