Adrenocortical responses following limbic stimulation in rats with hypothalamic deafferentations

In view of the involvement of limbic structures in adrenocortical regulation, their afferent projections to the mediobasal hypothalamus were investigated. Electrical stimulation via chronically implanted electrodes in the dorsal hippocampus, the medial septal nuclei, the basolateral amygdala or the mesencephalic reticular formation all elicited a significant increment in plasma corticosterone levels in adult male rats under pentobarbital anesthesia. Complete or anterior hypothalamic deafferentation blocked these adrenocortical responses completely, and posterior hypothalamic deafferentation attenuated them to a marked extent. In animals with bilateral medial forebrain bundle lesions, hippocampal stimulation had no effect upon plasma corticosterone levels. These studies demonstrate that extrahypothalamic effects upon adrenocortical secretion are neurally mediated, and that the integrity of neural pathways impinging upon the mediobasal hypothalamus from both the rostral and the caudal directions is essential to these effects.