Lesions of the dorsal lateral septum do not affect neophagia in the novelty induced suppression of feeding paradigm but reduce defensive behaviours in the elevated plus maze and shock probe burying tests

Past studies have shown that the lateral septum is involved in anxiety. Here, we tested whether the dorsal lateral septum contributes to neophagia by using the novelty induced suppression of feeding (NISF) paradigm. We found that while lesions of the dorsal lateral septum did not affect home or novel cage responding in the NISF test, they did decrease open arm avoidance in the elevated plus maze and burying in the shock probe burying test. Our results suggest that the dorsal lateral septum does not regulate neophagia in the NISF, but further experiments are needed to determine if the same is true for the intermediate and ventral lateral septum. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.