Effect of Hippocampal Ablation on Chronic Stress in Rats

Abstract

Rats whose hippocampus was ablated through neocortex (hippocampus-ablated rats) , rats in which only the portion of neocortex over the hippocampus was ablated (neocortex-ablated rats), and normal control rats were prepared. Their reaction to the chronic stress of repeated skin incisions was measured by comparing the adrenal ascorbic acid content before and after the stress. The results are as follows. The adrenal ascorbic acid content generally increased following chronic stress in all preparations. The increment was least in hippocampusablated rats. and most pronounced in neocortexablated animals , while the value was intermediate in control rats.