Several lines of evidence suggest that the hippocampus is a part of the neural mechanism regulating self-stimulation behavior. Self-stimulation areas in the hypothalamus and septum have reciprocal connections with the hippocampus, in particular via the fornix system (Nauta, 1956). [...]

The clinical literature on the intellectual effects of human brain damage reveals a constant preoccupation with the problem of the role of the frontal lobes, with a corresponding neglect of other parts of the cerebral cortex. In particular there is not a single systematic investigation of the effects of temporal-lobe damage in man, althrough there are several isolated and highly suggestive reports of individual cases. Fortunately the situation is quite different with regard to animal work, where the last few years have yielded numerous reports dealing with the effects of temporal-lobe lesions of varying extent on the learning ability of lower primates. This material is highly relevant to the present investigation, since it draws attention to types of deficit which might well be found at the human level also, but which have been neglected; for this reason the animal data will be presented in some detail, before passing to a review of the clinical literature. Since the present study deals only with cognitive functions, there will be no detailed discussion of the emotional changes often seen in temporal-lobe damage. In the monkey, a decrease in emotional reactivity regularly follows deep-temporal removals (Brown and Schafer, 1888; Kluver and Bucy, 1938; Bard, 1950; Thomson and Walker, 1951; Mishkin, 1951; Poirier, 1952); in man, electrographic abnormality in the anterior temporal region frequently gives rise to personality disturbances (Bailey and Gibbs, 1949) [...]

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The idea that the limbic system is involved in the mediation of emotional and motivational behavior is one which is now quite common in the literature. Since the early work of Klüver and Bucy (1937) and Papez (1937), a great deal of experimentation has centered on this particular region of the brain. There now appears to be at least some general agreement on the gross changes in behavior which follow lesions and stimulation in the various areas of the limbic system. But in most cases precisely how these general changes in emotionality affect behavior in specifie circumstances is still not known, and how the limbic system functions, in whole or in part, to modify behavior is far from clear. [...]

Electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) of unanesthetized animals offers a powerful technique for the study of brain structure and function. The method was originally employed by physiologists interested in determining the functional organization of the nervous system (Hess, 1957; Ranson 5 Magoun, 1939). But recently, psychologists have utilized stimulation with the object of determining the role of the central nervous system in the control of behavior. [...]

A test of preference for accepting or rejecting electrical stimulation of the rat's septal area revealed individual differences: "positive" reactors sought the stimulation; "negative" reactors escaped from it. All animals escaped from electrical stimulation of the dorsal tegmental area. [...]

Since the cortex is the highest integrating center in the mammal and the most accessible, it is natural that it should have been the object of much experimentation. One way of investigating the functions of the cortex is to remove it entirely, and study the behavior of the decorticate animal. [...]