Posttrial electrical stimulation of the dorsal hippocampus facilitates acquisition of the nictitating membrane response.

Rabbits with electrodes implanted in the dorsal hippocampus were trained on the acquisition of the nictitating membrane response. Posttrial application of subseizure-level electrical stimulation within a single session resulted in a facilitation of nictitating membrane response conditioning. In contrast, seizure-level stimulation within a single session and subseizure-level stimulation in multiple sessions had no facilitatory or deleterious effects on conditioning. It is suggested that dorsal hippocampus stimulation facilitates conditioning by activation of midbrain and cerebellar circuits.