We investigated the effects of restraint and footshock stress and norepinephrine treatment on gastric emptying. The gastric emptying was significantly inhibited by restraint stress. β₃-adrenergic antagonist canceled the inhibition of gastric emptying caused by restraint stress, while β₁-, β₂-, α₁-, and α₂-adrenergic antagonists did not affect the inhibition. Norepinephrine treatment also inhibited gastric emptying. The inhibition by norepinephrine treatment was canceled by β₁-, β₂-, and β₃-adrenergic antagonists, but not by α₁- and α₂-adrenergic antagonists. On the other hand, footshock stress did not affect gastric emptying. These results suggest that β₃-adrenoceptors play an important role in the inhibition of gastric emptying caused by restraint stress, while nonspecific β-adrenoceptors are involved in that caused by norepinephrine treatment.