The role of afferents from the parafascicular-centromedian complex in the excitatory striatal neuronal response to dexamphetamine in freely moving animals.

The striatal neuronal response to dexamphetamine, 2.5 mg/kg, was studied in normal freely moving animals and in freely moving animals with unilateral lesions of the parafascicular-centromedian complex. Whereas dexamphetamine produced predominantly excitation of striatal neurons in control animals, the predominant response in lesioned animals was inhibition. In lesioned animals dexamphetamine-induced behavioral activation was unchanged. It is concluded that the PF-CM complex plays an important role in the striatal neuronal response to dexamphetamine in freely moving animals and may be one of the neural substrates conveying sensory feedback from drug-induced behavior to the striatum.