Recovery of emotional behavior after lesions of the septal area

Abstract

Temporary decortication induced by acute cerebral ischemia or insulin coma reinstated the initial syndrome of emotional hyperreactivity in rats fully recovered from septal forebrain lesions. The effect was virtually the same as observed earlier with the use of spreading cortical depression. Surprisingly it was found that insulin coma induced during the acute phase of the septal syndrome but not after regression facilitated the recovery of normal emotional behavior. It is postulated that the observed effects of temporary decortication do not result from transient abolition of cerebral functions but rather from the disorganizing action of functional decortication, which consists of disruption of old and freshly formed neural connections.