[Effect of hippocampal damage on emotional stress in rats]

Motor reactions and ECGs were recorded in rats with lesioned hippocampus and in intact animals during elaboration of conditioned switching over of heterogeneous conditioned reflexes (alimentary and defensive). In hippocampectomized rats, in contrast to intact ones, the formation of this complex conditioned activity is not accompanied by pronounced vegetative reactions and changes in the ECG. The data obtained point to an active involvement of the hippocampus in formation of emotional stress and confirm the concept of the hippocampus as a brain structure, providing for responses to signals of events with low probability.