Effect of chlorpromazine on septal hyperactivity in the rat.

The effect of chlorpromazine on the overt emotional activity of a hybrid strain of rats has been measured using an altered "emotionality rating scale." It has been found that 8 mg/kg of chlorpromazine intraperitoneally reduced the activity of rats with the septal nuclei destroyed, normal rats and control rats to the same emotional rating. This effect has been related to the postulated interrelationship of the septal area and the amygdaloid complex of nuclei. It seemed that impulses traversing the septal nuclei might be re-routed, so that destruction of the septal area need not necessarily cause total abolition of "septal-function."