Circling from unilateral VTA morphine: Direction is controlled by environmental stimuli

The neurobiology of craving: Implications for the understanding and treatment of addiction.

“…directionally biased; animals in a closed environment (see Wise & Holmes, 1986) tend to circle away from the injected side (Holmes et al, 1983;Holmes & Wise, 1985). The direction of circling confirms that the dopamine system is activated and not exhausted by these doses of morphine (Holmes & Wise, 1985).…”

“…Whatever the origins of the qualifier "psychomotor," it is clear that the psychomotor stimulants do not merely activate motor automatisms. The low-dose effect of psychomotor stimulants is an increase in locotnotor activity, but the increase is responsive to environmental contingencies (Ellinwood & Kilbey, 1975;Wise & Holmes, 1986) and is not merely a forced stepping pattern. The locomotor responses to medial forebrain bundle electrical stimulation (Glickman & Schiff, 1967) are also quite different from the forced stepping movements associated with stimulation of the locomotor regions of the brainstem (Garcia-Rill, 1986).…”

A psychomotor stimulant theory of addiction.

“…For example, animals that spontaneously circle clockwise around the edge of a tabletop will circle counterclockwise around a circular hole in the center of the table (Pisa & Szechtman, 1984). Animals that circle clockwise around the inside of a test box in response to unilateral pharmacological dopaminergic activation will circle counterclockwise around the outside of the same box (Wise & Holmes, 1986). The locomotion seems to be an exaggeration of the rat's orientation toward, or exploration of, environmental stimuli.…”

Directional preferences in the rotational play behaviors of young children

“…In his words, ''At least one kind of behavioral There is some animal research that supports this asymmetry appears to have evolved as part of a possibility. Wise and Holmes (1986), for example, common mechanism underlying directional and/ found that the direction of circling of rats induced or spatial functions'' (p. 314).…”