Elimination of the septal deficit in one-way active avoidance

Septal and control rats were conditioned to avoid foot shock (1.0 ma) by climbing onto a vertical pole in response to the CS (light offset). Half the animals in each surgical condition were handled during the intertrial interval, while the other half was not. Whereas septal rats in the handled condition exhibited the traditional deficit in one-way avoidance, non-handled septal rats did not statistically differ from either surgical control group in terms of trials to criterion. Moreover, performance on this task did not appear to be directly related to stand-up behavior assessed prior to avoidance testing. Handled septals initially exhibited longer latencies to respond than the other groups, and non-handled septals initially had longer response durations than non-handled controls. These differences disappeared by the last ten trials of acquisition. The present results demonstrate that the absence of intertrial handling can attenuate the septal one-way avoidance deficit even at relatively high shock intensity.