6-OHDA bilateral lesions to the central amygdala do not affect vasopressin improvement of recall in rats

The influence of vasopressin (AVP) on recall of information in a passive avoidance situation after bilateral 6-OHDA lesions to the central amygdala was tested. AVP given 15 min before the retention testing at the icy dose of 1 mu g significantly prolonged avoidance latencies both in lesioned and in sham-operated rats in comparison with the respective icy saline injected animals. Insignificant increase of spontaneous locomotor activity in rats lesioned to the central amygdala was unlikely to interfere with the cognitive effect of AVP. These results suggest that dopaminergic projection to the central amygdala is not responsible for the facilitatory effect of AVP on retrieval process in a passive avoidance situation.