Reticular stimulation and hippocampal theta rhythm in rats: Effects of drugs

The effect of drugs on hippocampal theta rhythm induced by high frequency stimulation of the midbrain reticular formation was investigated in free-moving rats. The linearity of the relationship between the frequency of theta produced and the intensity of the stimulating current was unchanged by injections of sodium amylobarbitone; however, the frequency itself was reduced. Cholinergic blockade or depletion of noradrenaline, dopamine or serotonin levels in brain did not produce such a reduction in frequency, nor did they change the linearity of the function.These results contrast with the nonlinear effects which have been found with sodium amylobarbitone when septal stimulation is used to evoke theta rhythm; and with the fact that such nonlinear effects can be reproduced by depletion of forebrain noradrenaline levels. Sodium amylobarbitone appears, therefore, to affect control of hippocampal theta rhythm by actions on two systems, only one of which is dependent on noradrenaline. The duplication of behavioural effects of the drug by lesions of the dorsal ascending noradrenergic bundle may imply that the frequency at which theta occurs is less important for the control of such behaviours than other aspects of this electrical activity.