Behavioural Neuroscience Group, Department of Psychology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Neuroscience. 2011 Sep 29;192:452-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.06.039. Epub 2011 Jul 1.
Recent studies have shown that electrical stimulation of the posterior hypothalamic nucleus (PH) facilitates locomotion in control rats, and rats were made akinetic by dopaminergic blockade via haloperidol or dopamine depletion by the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine. These findings suggest that PH stimulation might be a promising treatment for akinesia associated with dopamine loss in Parkinson's disease. The present study further examined the positive effects of PH stimulation on behavior by characterizing its potential facilitatory effects on tasks that require skilled movements. Rats were trained to reach for food pellets with a forelimb (skilled reaching) or press a bar in an operant conditioning task for food. PH stimulation in undrugged rats not only facilitated locomotion in each of the tasks, but also impaired performance of the skilled movement components of the tasks. Haloperidol reduced locomotion and skilled movement, and PH stimulation only restored locomotion. The results are discussed in relation to the idea that PH stimulation selectively facilitates locomotor behavior and may have limited use in restoring impairments in skilled movements and consummatory behavior that results from dopaminergic depletion.
最近的研究表明，电刺激下丘脑后核（PH）可促进对照大鼠的运动，而通过氟哌啶醇阻断多巴胺能或通过神经毒素 6-羟多巴胺耗竭多巴胺，可使大鼠变得运动不能。这些发现表明，PH 刺激可能是治疗帕金森病中与多巴胺丧失相关的运动不能的一种有前途的治疗方法。本研究通过描述 PH 刺激对需要熟练运动的任务的潜在促进作用，进一步研究了 PH 刺激对行为的积极影响。大鼠接受训练，用前肢（熟练抓取）抓取食物丸，或在操作性条件反射任务中按压棒以获得食物。在未用药的大鼠中，PH 刺激不仅促进了每个任务中的运动，而且还损害了任务中熟练运动成分的表现。氟哌啶醇降低了运动和熟练运动，而 PH 刺激仅恢复了运动。结果与以下观点有关：PH 刺激选择性地促进运动行为，并且在恢复由于多巴胺能耗竭而导致的熟练运动和摄食行为损伤方面的用途可能有限。
