Electrical stimulation of the dorsal hippocampus caused a long lasting inhibition of ACTH and adrenocortical responses to photic stimuli in freely moving rats

The effect of a sin-le train of electrical hippocampal stimulation on ACTH and corticosterone (CS) responses to subsequent photic stimulation was studied in freely moving male rats. The hippocampal stimulation inhibited the stress and induced a rise in serum CS levels up to 150 h when compared to sham stimulated animals. This effect did not exist at 300 h following stimulation. This sustained hippocampal inhibitory effect on the adrenocortical response, which was not reported previously, was partially abolished by section of the dorsal fornix. The present data demonstrate that dorsal hippocampal stimulation has a long lasting inhibitory effect on pituitary adrenocortical secretion following neural stimuli and this is partially mediated by the dorsal fornix. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.