Dopaminergic involvement in attention. A novel animal model.

1. Adult male outbred albino mice were acutely injected with either of two dopamine (DA) agonists; Apomorphine, a receptor agonist, or Amantadine, a DA releasing agent. 2. Both drugs produced dose-related alterations in initial Y-maze behavior, consisting of significantly increased proportions of 2-arm entries. 3. This behavior has previously been shown to reflect an abnormal sttentional process. 4. Thus DA activation may cause sensory perseveration. 5. The implications of this finding for DA r;heories of psychopathology i.j discussed.