The crossed mesostriatal pathway and circling behaviour in rats
Rats with unilateral 6-OHDA lesions of the nigrostriatal (NS) projection display motor asymmetry in the form of rotational behaviour. The rotation is in the direction ipsilateral with respect to the lesioned side (Ungerstedt 1979). The nett ipsilateral rotations decrease with time, from 1 week to about a month. This decrease has been interpreted as recovery from the lesion-induced motor asymmetry (Glick and Cox 1978). Pritzel et al. (1983) have ascribed the recovery from motor asymmetry to increased activity of a crossed NS projection, which is spared by the ipsilateral lesion. The present study has defined the size and anatomical path of this crossed projection, and has examined its involvement in the behavioural recovery of rats from lesion-induced motor asymmetry. The anatomy of the crossed projection was investigated in male Long-Evans rats using retrograde HRP tract tracing from deposition sites in the striatum.
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