Participation cholinergic systems of the dorsal and ventral striatum in the training of rats to avoidance in a T-maze.

Influence of activation of cholinergic systems of the dorsal (Caudate- Putamen) and ventral (Accumbens) striatum on the process of the training of rats to active avoidance in a T-maze was investigated in experiments on 60 male Sprague-Dawley rats. The results, obtained on one and the same behavioral model (active avoidance in a T-maze), suggest the presence of particular features of the participation of the cholinergic systems of the dorsal and ventral striatum in the regulation of motor behavior. Thus, a one-time administration of carbacholine (Cbch, 0.03 microgram) increases the level of correct responses on the first and succeeding days of the training of the rats to active avoidance, when microinjections are made into the right Accumbens, and also induces a significant increase in the level of correct realizations on the second and third days of training when microinjections are made in the left Accumbens, and at the same time, similar influences on the Caudate-Putamen do not induce any significant changes in the behavior of the animals during training in a T-maze. The changes in the locomotor activity according to collective data in the various groups of rats exhibited a generally complex character from experiment to experiment, the level of the locomotor activity of the animals decreased in the majority of cases, but microinjections of the substances did not alter the locomotor activity of the animals in any of the groups. However, the degree of change in the level of locomotor activity in the group of rats with microinjections into the Accumbens (in this investigation, the degree of increase) very markedly depended on the localization of the cannula. The greatest effect was obtained in the lateral segment of this nucleus; this confirms the functional heterogeneity of this fairly small nuclear structure.