[The striatonigral dopaminergic system and its role in adaptive conditioned reflex behavior].

Neurochemical and pharmacological techniques helped to study the role of the nigro-strial dophaminergic system in adaptive conditioned behaviour of rats and dogs. The avoidance technique revealed that dophamine content in the rat neostriatum increased in a more complicated task performance, and administration of 3 micrograms of dophamine into the rostral neostriatum accelerated and improved the conditioning. Nonadaptive forms of behaviour were accompanied by a drop of the dophamine level in the neostriatum. Stimulation of the caudate nucleus' dophamine-reactive system in dogs by means of administration of dophamine (60 micrograms) and phenamine led to deterioration of conditioned and unconditioned components of feeding behaviour. The effects of the dophaminomimetics were suppressed by administration of haloperidol (10 micrograms) and naloxon (0.8 micrograms) into the same area of the caudate nucleus which attested a functional interrelationship between the dophamine- and enkephalin-containing systems of the neostriatum in regulation of feeding behaviour. The data obtained and literature references gave ground for discussing the role of the nigro-strial dophaminergic system in the positive modulation of adaptive conditioned behaviour under natural conditions.