The effect of lesions of the anteroventral and anterodorsal thalamic nuclei on the emotional reactivity of the rat

Abstract

The effect of anteroventral and anterodorsal thalamic nuclei lesions on emotional reactivity has been studied.The behavior of 18 rats (half of them bearing thalamic lesions) was studied by means of the open field and the acquisition of a conditioned emotional response (Estes and Skinner technique).Results show that no differences between control and experimental animals were found in exploratory behavior in the open field, where the number of defecations in each group was similar.They also show great impairment in the acquisition of a conditioned emotional response in experimental animals.These results suggest that the structures under study might be involved in the regulation of emotional reactivity.