Research reportDorsal hippocampal lesions disrupt Pavlovian delay conditioning and conditioned-response timing

The involvement of the rat dorsal hippocampus (dhpc) in Pavlovian conditioning and timing of conditioned responding was examined in an appetitive preparation in which presentation of a relatively long, 40-s auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) was followed immediately by food delivery. Dorsal hippocampal lesions impaired Pavlovian conditioning in this task. They also produced a deficit in interval timing, replicating previous findings with short CSs. The conditioning and timing deficits observed are consistent with the findings from single-unit recording studies in other species, and suggest that the involvement of the dhpc in Pavlovian processes could be more general than is assumed by many of the current theories of hippocampal function.

► Dorsal hippocampal lesion effects on conditioning and timing were examined. ► Conditioned stimulus was long (40 s). ► Lesions disrupted conditioning and response timing.