Hippocampal pathway to the amygdala and stress ulcer development.

The objective of the first study was to localize the reported aggravation of stress ulcers found after large bilateral hippocampal lesions in rats. Lesions in the ventral hippocampus produced a similar increase in the severity of gastric erosions after cold-restraint, as was seen after large bilateral lesions. Dorsal hippocampal damage produced no differential effects. In the second experiment, high-frequency electrical stimulation of the ventral CA1 region of the hippocampus, a procedure known to induce long-term potentiation, increased the evoked potentials in the lateral central nucleus of the amygdala, and in adjacent parts of the lateral and basolateral nuclei. The increase in the efficacy of synaptic transmission in this pathway attenuated stress ulcer development. It was concluded that the ventral hippocampus is part of a coping system, and a strengthening of synaptic connections with the central amygdala increases the coping ability of rats under stress conditions.