Abstract
Electrolytic lesions restricted to either the medial or the dorsolateral septal area were made in rats previously implanted with chronic recording electrodes in the hippocampal formation. The former, but not the latter, lesion disrupted hippocampal theta activity. Rats with both kinds of lesion, as well as operated controls, were trained to barpress for food pellets on a schedule of differential reinforcement of low rates with an interresponse requirement of 20 sec. Both lesions impaired task efficiency to an equal degree, but neither prevented the development of a timing curve. This pattern of results is consistent with the behavioral inhibition hypothesis of septal function, but the failure to dissociate the effects of the two lesions is discordant with observations in other tasks apparently requiring response inhibition.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Reference Note
Feldon, J., Rawlins, J. N. P., & Gray, J. A. The effects of fornix-fimbria section on the partial reinforcement extinction effect. Manuscript in preparation, 1983.
References
Agnew, R. L., & Meyer, M. E. Response inhibition of rats with medial and lateral septal lesions. Psychonomic Science, 1969, 16, 231–233.
Amsel, A. Frustrative nonreward in partial reinforcement and discrimination learning: Some recent history and a theoretical extension. Psychological Review, 1962, 69, 306–328.
Anger, D. The dependence of interresponse times upon the relative reinforcement of different interresponse times. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1956, 52, 145–161.
Burkett, E. E., & Bunnell, B. N. Septal lesions and the retention of DRL performance in the rat. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1966, 62, 468–471.
Carter, D. E., & Bruno, L. J. J. On the discriminative function of the reinforcing stimulus. Psychonomic Science, 1968, 11, 21–22.
Donovick, P. J. Effects of localized septal lesions on hippocampal EEC activity and behavior in rats. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1968, 66, 569–578.
Ellen, P., Wilson, A. S., & Powell, E. W. Septal inhibition and timing behavior in the rat. Experimental Neurology, 1964, 10, 120–132.
ai]Elliott, K., & Whelan, J. (Eds.), Functions of the septohippocampal system. Ciba Foundation Symposium 58 (New Series). Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1978.
Feldon, J., & Gray, J. A. Effects of medial and lateral septal lesions on the partial reinforcement extinction effect at one trial a day. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1979, 31, 653–674. (a)
Feldon, J., & Gray, J. A. Effects of medial and lateral septal lesions on the partial reinforcement extinction effect at short inter-trial intervals. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1979, 31, 675–690. (b)
Feldon, J., & Gray, J. A. The partial reinforcement extinction effect: Influence of chlordiazepoxide in septal-lesioned rats. Psychopharmacology, 1981, 74, 280–289.
Feldon, J., Rawlins, J. N. P., & Gray, J. A. Effects of lateral and medial septal lesions on response suppression mediated by response-contingent and response-independent shock. Physiological Psychology, 1982, 10, 145–152. (a)
Feldon, J., Rawlins, J. N. P., & Gray, J. A. Discrimination of response-contingent and response-independent shock by rats: Effects of medial and lateral septal lesions and chlordiazepoxide. Behavioral and Neural Biology, 1982, 35, 121–135.(b)
Gray, J. A. Sodium amobarbital, the hippocampal theta rhythm and the partial reinforcement extinction effect. Psychological Review, 1970, 77, 465–480.
Gray, J. A. Medial septal lesions, hippocampal theta rhythm and the control of vibrissal movement in the freely moving rat. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1971, 30, 189–197.
Gray, J. A. Precis of Gray’s The Neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of the septo-hippocampal system. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1982, 5, 469–484.
Gray, J. A., Feldon, J., Rawlins, J. N. P., Owen, S., & McNaughton, N. The role of the septo-hippocampal system and its noradrenergic afferents in behavioural responses to nonreward. In K. Elliott & J. Whelan (Eds.), Functions of the septohippocampal system. Ciba Foundation Symposium 58 (New Series). Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1978.
Gray, J. A., & McNaughton, N. Comparison between the behavioural effects of septal and hippocampal lesions: A review. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 1983, 7, 119–188.
Grossman, S. P. An experimental ‘dissection’of the septal syndrome. In K. Elliott & J. Whelan (Eds.), Functions of the septohippocampal system. Ciba Foundation Symposium 58 (New Series). Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1978.
Henke, P. G. Persistence of runway performance after septal lesions in rats. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1974, 86, 760–761.
Henke, P. G. Dissociation of the frustration effect and the partial reinforcement extinction effect after limbic lesions in rats. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1977, 91, 1032–1038.
James, D. T., McNaughton, N., Rawlins, J. N. P., Feldon, J., & Gray, J. A. Septal driving of hippocampal theta rhythm as a function of frequency in the free-moving male rat. Neuroscience, 1977, 2, 1007–1017.
Konig, J. F. R., & Klippel, R. A. The rat brain. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1963.
Krayniak, P. F., Weiner, S., & Siegel, A. An analysis of the efferent connections of the septal area in the cat. Brain Research, 1980, 189, 15–29.
McCleary, R. A. Response-modulating functions of the limbic system: Initiation and suppression. In E. Stellar & J. M. Sprague (Eds.), Progress in physiological psychology (Vol. 1). New York: Academic Press, 1966.
McDouGALL, J. M., Van Hoesen, G. W., & Mitchell, J. C. Development of post Sr and post non Sr DRL performance and its retention following septal lesions in rats. Psychonomic Science, 1969, 16, 45–56.
McGowAN, B. K., Hankins, W. G., & Garcia, J. Limbic lesions and control of the internal and external environment. Behavioral Biology, 1972, 7, 841–852.
Millenson, J. R. A programming language for on-line control of psychological experiments. Behavioral Science, 1971, 16, 248–256.
O’Keefe, J., & Nadel, L. The hippocampus as a cognitive map. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.
Pellegrino, L. J., & Clapp, B. R. Limbic lesions and externally cued DRL performance. Physiology & Behavior, 1971, 7, 863–868.
Petsche, H., Stumpf, Ch., & Gogolak, G. The significance of the rabbit’s septum as a relay station between the midbrain and the hippocampus. I The control of hippocampus arousal activity by the septum cells. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1962, 14, 202–211.
Poplawsky, A., & Hoffman, S. L. Effects of lateral, medial or complete septal lesions on response suppression. Physiology & Behavior, 1979, 22, 679–682.
Rawlins, J. N. P., Feldon, J., & Gray, J. A. Septo-hippocampal connections and the hippocampal theta rhythm. Experimental Brain Research, 1979, 37, 49–63.
Rawlins, J. N. P., Feldon, J., & Gray, J. A. The effects of hippocampectomy and of fimbria section upon the partial reinforcement extinction effect in rats. Experimental Brain Research 1980, 38, 273–283.
Swanson, L. W. The anatomical organization of septohippocampal projections. In K. Elliott & J. Whelan (Eds.), Functions of the septo-hippocampal system. Ciba Foundation Symposium 58 (New Series). Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1978.
Swanson, L. W., & Cowan, W. M. The connections of the septal region in the rat. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 1979, 186, 621–656.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by the U.K. Medical Research Council. J.N.P.R. is Henry Head Research Fellow of the Royal Society and Senior Research Fellow at University College, Oxford. J.F. held the Kenneth Lindsay Scholarship from the Anglo-Israel Association; We thank Neil McNaughton and Cliff Preston for statistical advice.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brookes, S., Rawlins, J.N.P., Gray, J.A. et al. DRL performance in rats with medial or lateral septal lesions. Psychobiology 11, 178–184 (1983). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326791
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326791