Abstract: Glutamate(Glu)levels of the visual cortex(VC) ,hippocampus (Hi),hypothalamus(Hy)and cerebellum(Ce)during acute and chronic,and physical and psychological stress in rats were measured.Open-field behaviors (OFBs)during stress and after intracerebroventricularly(icv,lateral ventricle) administered L-AP4(10-3M/L,5ul)or saline(5ul)were recorded with TV camera The results showed that Glu levels of Hi and Hy in acute stress group and that of VC in chronic stress groups were higher and that of Ce was lower than that of the control (P<0.05),and there was a significant difference in Glu level of Hi between physical and psychological stress.OFBs were markedly reduced during chronic stress.It was similar to chronic stressed animals that OFBs in non-stress rats were reduced significantly in the 5min following icv administration of L-AP4.These suggested that stressinduced OFBs change was connected with Glu system in CNS.

Key words: stress, open-field test, Glu, L-AP4