Abnormal behavioural changes associated with vasopressin-induced barrel rotations.

Arginine-8-vasopressin (AVP) was injected into the cerebral ventricles of rats in order to characterize the dose-response relations of the convulsant actions of AVP and to obtain a detailed description of other acute behavioural effects. The incidence of barrel rotations, a violent and apparently uncontrolled motor activity during which rats rotate about their long axis, was found to be dose dependent, with a threshold of between 1 and 10 ng per rat. Other behavioural effects of AVP including immobility, titubation, ataxia, backward walking, and inhibition of exploratory activities and of grooming were seen at doses as low as 100 pg. These behavioural effects occurred within 9 min after injection, and thus have the same time course as barrel rotations. These acute actions of AVP may be significant in interpreting the effects of AVP on cognitive processes and memory and should also be taken into consideration in the clinical use of AVP as an anti-amnestic.