Hippocampal lesions and spontaneous alternation behavior in the rat

Abstract

Abstract Rats with hippocampal lesions and control animals were tested for spontaneous alternation behavior in a modified T-maze under three different stimulus conditions. When intra-maze stimuli (alley brightness) and spatial direction could be used simultaneously as cues for alternation, both groups alternated at rates significantly higher than chance. However, when intra-maze stimuli were opposed to spatial direction cues, the rats with hippocampal lesions alternated at chance levels while the controls continued to alternate spatial direction. The complexity of the phenomenon of spontaneous alternation itself and the locus and extent of the lesions employed were discussed as possible sources of the discrepancy between the results of this study and others investigating the role of hippocampus in spontaneous alternation behavior.