This study investigates the role of the hippocampus in both unconditioned and conditioned defense behavior by examining the effects of pre-training electrolytic lesions to the dorsal and ventral hippocampus in male rats exposed to two types of threat stimuli: electrical stimulation of the DPAG and footshock. Our results indicate that ventral and dorsal lesions significantly attenuated conditioned defensive behavior. During unconditioned trials, ventral hippocampal lesion altered threshold needed for escape and pre-escape freezing. These results suggest a specific role of the ventral and dorsal hippocampus in modulating GAD and panic-attack like behaviors in certain animal model of defense.