Anxiolytic effects of cytotoxic hippocampal lesions in rats.
Rats with cytotoxic lesions of the hippocampus were given 3 anxiety tests: social interaction with a novel rat, the elevated zero-maze (a modification of the plus-maze), and hyponeophagia (eating familiar and novel foods in a novel place). Marked anxiolytic effects were seen in the social interaction and hyponeophagia tests, but not on the zero-maze. These results confirm and extend previous experiments that used traditional lesion techniques. The zero-maze result was consistent with other experiments using the plus-maze, in which intrahippocampal administrations of pharmacological agents were not anxiolytic, although variability in ethological tests may also be a factor. As the hyponeophagia test used an elevated apparatus, as in the zero- and plus-mazes, the lack of a lesion effect in the zero-maze was unlikely to have been due to an inability to relieve height-induced anxiety.
Deacon
Robert M J
RM
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. robert.deacon@psy.ox.ac.uk
Bannerman
David M
DM
Rawlins
J Nicholas P
JN
D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D007051:Ibotenic Acid / Q000633:toxicity*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats
D007051:Ibotenic Acid