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The role of the septum in the control of the milk ejection reflex in the rat: effects of lesions and electrical stimulation.

Experiments were undertaken to determine the role of the septum on the afferent control of the milk ejection reflex in lactating rats. Massive septal lesions were produced by passing radio‐frequency current through lesioning electrodes. Intramammary pressure recordings during suckling showed no significant alterations either in the frequency of milk ejections or in their amplitude and time course. Electrophysiological recordings of identified oxytocin‐secreting neurones in supraoptic nuclei of septal‐lesioned rats engaged in suckling showed that the pattern of background electrical activity and of the high frequency discharges at milk ejection were normal. The weight of litters from rats lesioned on the third day post‐partum increased in a way parallel to that of control litters up to the fifteenth post‐natal day. Electrical stimulation was applied bilaterally to the lateral septum in trains of long duration (20‐55 min) at varying frequencies. Frequencies of 5 and 10 Hz interrupted the reflex during the period of stimulation. At 1 Hz, milk ejections were not interrupted but the intervals between successive milk ejections were significantly increased in comparison to the intervals before stimulation. Electrical stimulation applied to the septum in short trains of 1 or 3 min at 5 and 10 Hz significantly delayed the appearance of the subsequent milk ejection. At 1 Hz, no effect was observed. Septal stimulation at 1 Hz for 20 min or more did not significantly alter the electrocorticogram during the period of stimulation. Stimulation at 5 Hz for the same period of time always desynchronized the e.e.g. for several minutes after the cessation of stimulation. It is concluded that the septum is not essential for the onset and the maintenance of reflex milk ejections during lactation. The results suggest, however, that in the normal non‐anaesthetized animal, septal activation could modulate the frequency of milk ejections.