Latent inhibition of conditioned taste aversion in rats with excitotoxic dorsal hippocampal lesions

Abstract

The hippocampus plays crucial roles for the acquisition of latent inhibition in different associative learning procedures, such as fear conditioning. However, the involvement of the hippocampus in the latent inhibition of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is uncertain. Because different subregions of the hippocampus are associated with distinct functions, it is possible that specific regions of this structure are selectively involved in this learning. To explore the relationship between the dorsal hippocampal region and the latent inhibition of CTA, we analyzed the behavioral effects of excitotoxic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus vs. sham lesions in this paradigm. The results provide no evidence that the latent inhibition of CTA is compromised in rats with excitotoxic dorsal hippocampal lesions. The differential involvement of specific hippocampal regions in the latent inhibition of other associative learning paradigms is briefly discussed.