ARE CEREBRAL VENTRICLES INVOLVED IN THIRST PRODUCED BY A CHOLINERGIC SUBSTANCE

In an attempt to produce a dose-dependent polydipsia, carbachol was chronically infused into the lateral cerebral ventricles of rats. Five drug-schedule combinations were employed and, as a control, saline and norepinephrine infusions were also given. Repeated intraventricular micro-injections, over 26 days, of carbachol and the other compounds failed to produce significant changes in water or food intakes in excess of normal baseline levels. These results suggest that the drinking following the application of carbachol to any of a number of limbic structures is not mediated by the cerebral ventricular route. © 1968, Psychonomic Journals. All rights reserved.