The putatively selective D-1 dopamine receptor antagonist SCH 23390 was used to study the role of the D-1 dopamine receptor in mediating the pre- and postsynaptic effects of dopamine agonists in the basal ganglia. SCH 23390 (1 mg/kg) had no significant effect on the tonic activity of substantia nigra dopamine neurons in 47% of the 19 cells studied, while the firing rates of 53% of the cells were increased. SCH 23390 did not shift the dose response of these cells to apomorphine, whereas the selective D-2 antagonist, YM-09151-2 completely blocked apomorphine's inhibitory effects on nigral dopamine cell activity. These results suggest that SCH 23390 does not interact with the D-2 dopamine autoreceptors, but does excite a subpopulation of dopamine neurons presumably through postsynaptic actions. In contrast to its inability to modify the effects of apomorphine on dopamine autoreceptors, SCH 23390 partially to fully reversed the effects of apomorphine on globus pallidus and substantia nigra pars reticulata cell activity and significantly attenuated the effects of apomorphine, pergolide, quinpirole (LY 171555) and d-amphetamine on firing rates of globus pallidus neurons. The D-1 antagonist alone had no significant effect on tonic globus pallidus neuronal activity. SCH 23390 was more potent than haloperidol in its ability to attenuate the effects of apomorphine on pallidal activity, but unlike haloperidol, was unable to totally inhibit these effects, suggesting that the two antagonists block the excitatory effects of apomorphine on pallidal cell firing rates by different mechanisms. The serotonin2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, had no effect on pallidal or dopamine cell activity, indicating that the effects of SCH 23390 were not mediated through interactions with serotonin2 receptors. These results suggest that D-1 receptor blockade attenuates the postsynaptic, but not autoreceptor-mediated effects of dopamine agonists.