Nucleus accumbens core and pathogenesis of compulsive checking

To investigate the role of the nucleus accumbens core (NAc) in the development of quinpirole-induced compulsive checking, rats received an excitotoxic lesion of NAc or sham lesion and were injected with quinpirole (0.5 mg/kg) or saline; development of checking behavior was monitored for 10 biweekly tests. The results showed that even after the NAc lesion, quinpirole still induced compulsive checking, suggesting that the pathogenic effects …