behavior/neurological
• exposure to SKF-82197 (a D1R agonist) increases locomotion more in wild-type mice than in homozygous mutants
• quinpirole (a D2R agonist) increases, rather than decreases, locomotion in mutants
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• have a greater locomotion response after repeated exposure to amphetamine
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• higher latencies to reach the decision point and platform in a water based U-maze
• however, the percentage of correct choices in a U-maze is similar to controls
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• acquisition of a two-way active avoidance task is impaired
• however, latency to escape after foot shock or sound cue is not different from controls in the first 10 trials indicating no decrease in pain sensitivity or motor function
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• in a cued-based strategy test, mice are slower to learn the escape strategy and have higher latencies to reach the platform
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• show no improvement in rotarod performance with training
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• locomotor activity is higher in the first few hours in an activity chamber
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• fall off a rotarod more quickly compared to controls
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• shorter latency to fall from an inverted wire mesh compared to wild-type controls
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• increase in activity during the nocturnal cycle is greater than in wild-type controls
• however, daytime activity levels are similar to controls
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nervous system
• medium spiny neuron have a higher average firing rate and an increased percentage of medium spiny neurons show continuous rather than burst firing
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• input resistance is increased in dorsal medium spiny neurons in striatal slices
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• baseline tonic GABA currents in medium spiny neurons are reduced
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• the stimulation threshold to evoke an EPSC is lower in medium spiny neurons
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• mean peak response amplitude is increased at stimulation intensities greater than 0.6 mA in medium spiny neurons
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• peak evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents are suppressed in medium spiny neurons
• increase in the mean stimulation current required to evoke an IPSC in medium spiny neurons
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