The effect of local injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the lateral septum was tested in a paradigm known to lead to an energizing behavior, through a possible frustrative effect, induced by partial or total omission of reward in hungry rats. Biochemical assays in the septum showed that 6-OHDA reduced endogenous dopamine and, to a lesser extent, noradrenaline concentrations and left intact noncatecholaminergic neurons such as serotoninergic terminals. The first behavioral experiment was conducted in a double straight alley. The animals were submitted to three phases of testing with differing degrees of reinforcement: (a) an acquisition phase, in which the reinforcement was continuously delivered in the goal box of the two alleys, (b) a partial reinforced phase, in which animals received 50% partial reinforcement in the first alley and continuous reinforcement in the second alley, and (c) an extinction phase performed in one alley without any reinforcement. Animals with lesions ran faster for food than controls in the partial reinforcement or extinction situation, although there was no difference between the two groups in the acquisition phase of the continuous schedule of reinforcement or in the 50% reinforced trials of the partial reinforcement phase. The two groups also behaved similarly after the first six trials of the extinction phase. In a second experiment, the animals were tested in a lever-press conditioning task. Animals with lesions and control animals learned this task equally well, both with respect to the number of lever presses and the time to obtain a fixed number of food pellets.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)