Comparison of the effects of intracranial injections of 6-OHDA and guanethidine on consummatory behavior and monoamine depletion.

Abstract

6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) has been used extensively to study the effects of catecholamine depletion on feeding and drinking behavior. The results from these experiments are variable and do not clarify the involvement of catecholamines in these behaviors. Guanethidine, which has been used in studies of the peripheral autonomic nervous system, provides an alternative method of catecholamine depletion. In the experiments reviewed here the effects of injections of 6-OHDA and guanethidine into the rat brain on consummatory behavior and temperature regulation have been compared and related to changes in monoamine levels as shown by fluorescence histochemistry. Injections of 6-OHDA into anterior h..