The 'short-term' (15-30 days) and 'long-term' (18-42 months) effects of the systemic administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) on [3H]mazindol binding to dopamine uptake sites was investigated in the common marmoset. In the 'short-term' MPTP-treated group, [3H]mazindol binding was reduced in the caudate-putamen (by -82 to -98% with respect to controls), substantia nigra pars compacta (-71 to -84%), ventral tegmental area (-72%) and nucleus accumbens (-54%). [3H]Mazindol binding in the globus pallidus, frontal cortex and substantia nigra pars reticulata was much lower and was unaffected by MPTP treatment. In the 'long-term' MPTP-treated group [3H]mazindol binding was still greatly reduced in the substantia nigra pars compacta (by -76 to -89%), ventral tegmental area (-71%) and most of the caudate-putamen (-69 to -98%), although the reduction in [3H]mazindol binding in the nucleus accumbens (-27%) and rostroventral caudate nucleus (-69%) was less than in the 'short-term' MPTP-treated group. The motor deficits induced by MPTP treatment in the common marmoset are largely reversible with increasing survival times (Ueki et al., 1989, Neuropharmacology 28, 1089). In the present study, the apparent 'recovery' in [3H]mazindol binding in the rostroventral caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens may indicate regeneration of dopamine neurone terminals in these regions and this may contribute to the behavioural recovery seen in this primate model of Parkinson's disease.