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Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) are considered to represent a genetic animal model for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the present studies, we compared the locomotor activity, learning and memory functions of juvenile male SHR, with age- and gender-matched genetic control Wistar–Kyoto rats (WKY). In addition, we investigated potential differences in brain morphology by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In other complimentary studies of the central nervous system, we used real-time PCR to examine the levels of several dopaminergic-related genes, including those coding for the five major subtypes of dopamine receptor (D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5), those coding for enzymes responsible for synthesizing tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine-β-hydroxylase, and those coding for the dopamine transporter. Our data revealed that SHR were more active than WKY in the open field (OF) test …