The relationship between lamotrigine concentration and change in resting motor threshold in a rodent model of motor cortex stimulation.

The anticonvulsant sodium channel blocker lamotrigine (LTG) increases resting motor threshold (RMT) measured using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex in humans. However, studies suggest a weak relationship between LTG plasma concentration and increase in RMT. This undermines the possibility to use the technique to investigate the dose-efficacy relationship of lamotrigine or novel sodium channel blocking drugs.

The CB1 receptor antagonist, SR141716A, prevents high-frequency stimulation-induced reduction of feedback inhibition in the rat dentate gyrus following perforant path stimulation in vivo.

Endocannabinoids acting through CB(1) receptors are thought to regulate GABAergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission and may modulate long-term potentiation (LTP). High-frequency stimulation (HFS) of the medial perforant path to induce LTP was studied in the dentate gyrus with or without the selective CB(1) receptor antagonist, SR141716A in isoflurane-anaesthetised rats. HFS significantly increased the slope of the field excitatory post-synaptic potential (fEPSP) and the amplitude of the population spike (PS; P<0.

Dopamine responsiveness to drugs of abuse: A shell-core investigation in the nucleus accumbens of the mouse.

The existence of subterritories within the nucleus accumbens has now been widely supported by histochemical, neurochemical, electrophysiological, as well as morphological and ultrastructural studies and suggest specific afferent and efferent systems involved in different behavioral aspects. Microdialysis studies in the rat have consistently shown that most drugs of abuse increase extracellular dopamine levels preferentially in the shell subregion of the nucleus accumbens. The study of the relative roles of NAc subregions may considerably help our understanding of the neurobiological basis of drug addiction.