LID induction and AIMs ratings
6-OHDA hemilesioned rats received 6 mg kg-1 L-DOPA (plus 12 mg kg-1 benserazide, s.c.), once a day for 21 days as originally described by MA Cenci and collaborators (Cenci et al. , 1998; Cenci et al. , 2007) and reported by our group (Marti et al. , 2012; Mela et al. , 2012; Paolone et al. , 2015). Rats were observed individually for 1 min every 20 min during the 3 h that followed an L-DOPA injection. Dyskinetic movements were classified based on their topographic distribution into three subtypes: (i) axial AIMs, that is, twisted posture or choreiform twisting of the neck and upper body toward the side contralateral to the lesion; (ii) forelimb AIMs, that is, jerky or dystonic movements of the contralateral forelimb and/or purposeless grabbing movement of the contralateral paw; (iii) orolingual AIMs, that is, orofacial muscle twitching, empty masticatory movements and contralateral tongue protrusion. Each AIM subtype was rated on frequency and amplitude scales from 0 to 4 (Cenci et al. , 2007). Dyskinesia score was calculated either in the induction phase or during the microdialysis sessions, as the product of frequency x amplitude (Cenci et al. , 2007), and presented as cumulative AIMs score.