Brain microdialysis studies on the control of dopamine release and metabolism in vivo

Abstract

This paper studies the actions of drugs known to release dopamine from brain tissue. Most of the theoretical background to this work has been developed in experiments on slices of brain in vitro but using in vivo microdialysis we have elaborated and extended the ideas from the in vitro experiments and been able to make a direct comparison of the mechanism of action and source of dopamine released by 5 different manipulations. The mode of action of tyramine, amphetamine, veratrine, ouabain and potassium is discussed in the light of the computer model of the nerve terminal published by Justice et al. (1988). The data may lend themselves to such an interpretation, but they could be compatible with several other models.