Hippocampal lesions, haloperidol, and excessive grooming

Rats with bilateral hippocampal damage, neocortical lesions, or sham operations were tested for excessive grooming after intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of ACTH'-14 or saline. The animals were tested for 3 days after pretreatment with low doses of haloperidol and on the first and last test days after saline pretreatment. The animals with hippocampal lesions evidenced less grooming than did the other groups, after both icy ACTH and icy saline. In addition, their grooming was reduced to a greater extent by low doses of haloperidol than was grooming by controls. This was interpreted to reflect altered dopaminergic sensitivity after hippocampal destruction.