Nigrostriatal dopamine system

It is worthwhile to note that the numbers of dopamine neurons located in the ventral substantia nigra pars reticulata increases at more caudal levels. Consequently, the common view of the substantia nigra as being composed of two separate zones, a dorsal pars compacta in which dopamine neurons are located, and a ventral pars reticulata in which GABA neurons are located, applies only to the rostral most levels of this nucleus. This organization appears to be common across species from rat to primates. 

---

Ungerstadt, U and Arbuthnott, GW (1970) Quantitative recording of rotational behaviour in rats after 6-hydroxy dopamine lesions of the nigrostriatal dopamine system. Brain Res. 24 485-493. 

Abeliovich, A. et al. Mice lacking a-synuclein display functional deficits in the nigrostriatal dopamine system. Neuron 25 239-252,2000. 

Camp DM, Robinson TE. 1992. On the use of multiple probe insertions at the same site for repeated intracerebral microdialysis experiments in the nigrostriatal dopamine system of rats. J Neurochem 58(5) 1706-1715. 

Aosaki, T, Grayhiel, A.M., and Kimura, M. (1994). Effect of the nigrostriatal dopamine system on acquired neural responses in the striatum of behaving monkeys. Science 265 412-415. 

Lang AE, ObesoJA. Challenges in Parkinson s disease restoration of the nigrostriatal dopamine system is not enough. Lancet Neurol. 2004 3 309-316. 

Rosenblad, C., Georgievska, B. and Kirik, D. (2003). Long-term striatal overexpression of GDNF selectively downregulates tyrosine hydroxylase in the intact nigrostriatal dopamine system. Eur. J. Neurosci. 17(2), 260-270. 

Hattori T (1993) Conceptual history of the nigrostriatal dopamine system. Neurosci Res 76 239-262. 

Hornykiewicz O (1993) Parkinson s disease and the adaptive capacity of the nigrostriatal dopamine system possible neurochemical mechanisms. Adv Neurol 60 140-147. 

Motor function(s) of the nigrostriatal dopamine system studies of lesions and behavior... 

The first and the most direct way to identify a function associated with an activity in the nigrostriatal dopamine system is to manipulate dopamine transmission pharmacologically,... 

Abeliovich A, Schmitz Y, Farinas I, Choi-Lundberg D, Ho WH, Castillo PE, Shinsky N, Verdugo JM, Armanini M, Ryan A, Hynes M, Phillips H, Sulzer D, Rosenthal A (2000) Mice lacking a-synuclein display functional deficits in the nigrostriatal dopamine system. Neuron 25 239-252. 

Hokfelt T, Ungerstedt U (1973) Specificity of 6-hydroxydopamine induced degeneration of central monoamine neurones an elctron and fluorescence microscopic study with special reference to intracerbral injection on the nigrostriatal dopamine system. Brain Res 60 269-297. 

Kirik D, Rosenblad C, Bjorklund A (1998) Characterization of behavioral and neurodegenerative changes following partial lesions of the nigrostriatal dopamine system induced by intrastriatal 6-hydroxydopamine in the rat. Exp Neurol 752 259-277. 

Treatment with NMDA receptor antagonists leads to a marked, dose-dependent increase of amphetamine-induced dopamine release (Miller and Abercrombie, 1996). In schizophrenics, this amphetamine-induced dopamine release is much higher compared to healthy controls (LarueUe et al., 1996). This observation is in accordance with the view that activation of the nigrostriatal dopamine system can take place by opposing activation of inhibitory striatonigral GABAergic projection neurons (Carlsson et al., 2001). 

---