[Emotional-defensive behavior and noradrenergic forebrain structures].

Conditioned avoidance responses in rats increase the noradrenaline expenditure in forebrain. The animals which reproduce no conditioned response after learning as well as the animals with ECS-induced retrograde amnesia preserve the noradrenergic terminals reaction as well as the emotional component of the conditioned response. The extinction of the emotional component by repeated testing or diazepam administration decreases the noradrenergic terminals activation. The data obtained support the view of the noradrenergic system participation in emotional--defensive behaviour.