We studied the effects of chloralose anesthesia on the elevation in arterial pressure (AP), heart rate (HR), and regional CBF (rCBF) elicited by stimulation of the cerebellar fastigial nucleus (FN). Rats were anesthetized with an initial dose of chloralose (40 mg/kg s.c.), paralyzed, and artificially ventilated. The FN was stimulated (50-100 microA, 50 Hz, 1 s on/1 s off) with microelectrodes stereotaxically implanted. During the stimulation AP was carefully maintained within cerebrovascular autoregulation. CBF was measured by the [14C]iodoantipyrine technique with regional dissection. In rats that received only the initial dose of chloralose, FN stimulation elevated rCBF in brain and spinal cord, up to 209 +/- 13% of control in frontal cortex (n = 5; p less than 0.01, analysis of variance). Administration of additional chloralose (10 mg/kg i.v., 30 min prior to measurement of CBF) did not affect resting rCBF (n = 5), the EEG, or the elevation in AP and HR elicited by FN stimulation (n = 4). However, the additional chloralose abolished the elevations in rCBF (n = 5; p greater than 0.05). Thus, the cerebrovasodilation elicited from the FN is more susceptible to the effects of additional anesthesia than the elevation in AP and HR. These results indicate that the cerebrovascular and cardiovascular responses elicited from the FN are functionally distinct and provide additional evidence for the notion that these responses are mediated by different neural pathways and transmitters.