Treatment of rats with reserpine in order to disrupt vesicular amine storage reduces 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels throughout brain by 90-95%. Despite the drastic reduction in brain 5-HT content by reserpine, the 5-HT releasing drug p-chloramphetamine (PCA) produces a behavioural syndrome in reserpine-treated rats which is not different from that observed in normal animals given PCA. Prior treatment of reserpinized rats with p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), the irreversible tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor which inhibits the synthesis of new 5-HT, prevents the PCA-induced behavioural syndrome. The 5-HT receptor antagonist methergoline, blocks the PCA effect in reserpine-treated rats. Treatment of reserpinized rats with pargyline, a non-selective inhibitor of monoamine oxidase, in order to increase cerebral 5-HT levels, shifts the PCA dose-response curve for inducing the 5-HT behavioural syndrome to the left. The specific 5-HT uptake blocker, fluoxetine, protects normal and reserpine-treated rats from the 5-HT depleting effects of PCA but does not always prevent the PCA-induced 5-HT behavioural syndrome. These results indicate that PCA releases 5-HT into the synapse from a small cytoplasmic pool which is resistant to reserpine and suggest that this newly synthesized compartment of 5-HT represents the 'functional' transmitter pool.