AMERICAN ZOOLOGIST, 29:1A-195A (1989) ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ZOOLOGISTS
DECEMBER 27-30, 1989 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Abstract 177
EFFECTS OF CNS CATECHOLAMINE DEPLETION IN THE LIZARD, ANOLIS CAROLINENSIS
N. Greenberg. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and P. H. Desan. Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA
Central catecholamine levels, in concert with their reciprocal effects on serotonin, are associated with altered arousal as well as changes in aggressive and reproductive behavior in many taxa. To clarify the behavioral role of this system in a model species, ethological observations were conducted and high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the effects of the dopaminergic neurotoxin MPTP on CNS levels of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), and serotonin (5HT), in male Anolis lizards surviving for4 hrs or 100 hrs after i.p. injection.
Following an acute response involving extreme autonomic arousal, lizards showed few overt behavioral deficits and would perch and feed normally as well as court introduced females. HPLC revealed that central DA was depleted in all treated subjects. Further, NE, only slightly depleted in 4 hour animals, was virtually eliminated in 100 hour animals; 5HT levels were elevated approximately 100% in all treated subjects.