Dorsal Diencephalic Self-Stimulation: A Movable Electrode Mapping Study

The function relating electrical self-stimulation (ESS) bar-pressing rate to the frequency of cathodal pulses (0.2 mA and 0.1 ms) was obtained for several positions of a movable electrode in the dorsal diencephalon of the rat. The rate-frequency functions were fitted to a sigmoid model to obtain the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral neuroscience 1992-12, Vol.106 (6), p.981-991
Main Authors: Vachon, Marie Paule, Miliaressis, Eleftherios
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amygdala - physiology
Animal
Animal behavior
Animals
Arousal - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain Mapping
Brain Self Stimulation
Conditioning
Diencephalon
Diencephalon - physiology
Electrical Brain Stimulation
Electrodes
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hippocampus - physiology
Learning
Learning. Memory
Male
Medical research
Motivation
Neural Pathways - physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Raphe Nuclei - physiology
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Rodents
Self Stimulation - physiology
Self-Reinforcement
Sensory Thresholds - physiology
Septal Nuclei - physiology
Tegmentum Mesencephali - physiology
Thalamic Nuclei - physiology
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Summary:The function relating electrical self-stimulation (ESS) bar-pressing rate to the frequency of cathodal pulses (0.2 mA and 0.1 ms) was obtained for several positions of a movable electrode in the dorsal diencephalon of the rat. The rate-frequency functions were fitted to a sigmoid model to obtain the asymptotic rate and threshold frequency. ESS was found along the epithalamic route (stria medullaris, habenula, and fasciculus retroflexus) and in the following thalamic nuclei: mediodorsal, paratenial, interanteromedial, centromedial, reuniens, and rhomboid. The lowest threshold (˜ 5 pulses/train), which was found in the stria medullaris and the junction of the paratenial and centromedial nuclei, was comparable to that usually obtained for the brain areas where the ESS is most effectively rewarding (medial forebrain bundle, dorsal raphe, and amygdala). However, most of threshold estimates were 4 to 8 times higher. In most brain sites, ESS was accompanied by epileptiform, motor, or aversive reactions (or a combination of these). These reactions may explain the fact that the maximum rates were generally very low. Nevertheless, no correlation was found between maximum rates and threshold frequencies.
ISSN:0735-7044
1939-0084
DOI:10.1037/0735-7044.106.6.981