Developmental and hormonal aspects of increased emotionality produced by septal lesions in male rats: A parametric study of the effects of early castration

Abstract

The study attempts to investigate in a parametric fashion the effects of early castration on increased emotionality produced by septal lesions in mature male rats. In three independent replications, male rats were castrated at ages from one to fifty days. Uncastrated animals and animals castrated after puberty served as controls. At 65 days of age, large bilateral radio frequency lesions were placed in the septal area. All animals showed increased emotionality one day following surgery. Subsequently, however, animals castrated at ages ranging from 26–29 days have recovered by the third postoperative day, while animals castrated at any age prior to 26 days or after 29 days did not recover more rapidly than did uncastrated rats. These results suggest that the effects of early age castration on recovery from the increased emotionality that follows septal lesions in adult rats are not associated with the entire period of infancy; rather, only castration during a brief period following early infancy had any effect on the recovery of mature male rats from septal lesions.