Although the hippocampus has been shown to be essential for spatial memory, the contribution of associated brain regions is not well established. Wistar rats were trained to find a hidden escape platform in the water maze during eight days. Following training, the oxidative metabolism in different brain regions was evaluated using cytochrome oxidase histochemistry. Metabolic activations were found in the prelimbic cortex, cornu ammonis (CA) 1 subfield of the dorsal hippocampus and the anterior thalamic nuclei, relative to yoked swim controls and naïve rats. In addition, many cross-correlations in brain metabolism were observed among the latter regions. These results support the implication of a hippocampal-prefrontal-thalamic system to spatial memory in rats.