Facilitation of spontaneous and learned spatial behaviours following 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the lateral septum: a cholinergic hypothesis.

Mice received injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in the lateral septum; they were tested for spontaneous alternation, acquisition and reversal of a spatial discrimination in a T-maze. In each of these tasks, performance of 6-OHDA lesioned mice was improved relative to controls. Neurochemical analysis revealed that 6-OHDA lesioned mice exhibited a significant increase in the rate of sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake in the hippocampus. These results are discussed in relation to current theories concerning the role of the septo-hippocampal complex and cholinergic system in the control of behaviour.