Some behavioral effects of transecting ventral or dorsal fiber connections of the septum of the rat.

Compared the behavioral effects of large electrolytic lesions in the septal area with those of knife cuts that severed the ventral or dorsal connections of this structure, using 37 adult male albino Sprague-Dawley rats in each of 6 experiments. Ss with septal lesions lost weight and were transiently hyperdipsic. Ventral cuts produced similar effects, but dorsal cuts did not. All 3 operations decreased the latency to eat in a novel environment, increased the intake of sweetened milk, enhanced acquisition of a food-rewarded running response, and facilitated acquisition of a shuttle-box avoidance response. The lesion, but neither of the knife cuts, reduced the effects of punishment and impaired the acquisition of a 1-way avoidance response. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)