Lateral Hypothalamic Stimulation in Satiated Rats: T-Maze Learning for Food

It is well known that electrical stimulation in portions of the lateral hypothalamic area is positively reinforcing and induces eating in satiated rats. We have found that continuous stimulation of this kind can also motivate satiated and previously untrained rats to learn the location of food in a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1965-07, Vol.149 (3683), p.559-561
Main Authors: Mendelson, Joseph, Chorover, Stephan L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Brain - physiology
Discrimination Learning
Electric Stimulation
Electrophysiology
Experimentation
Fences
Food
Food deprivation
Hunger
Hypothalamus
Learning
Learning motivation
Maze Learning
Mazes
Mental stimulation
Motivation
Nervous System Physiological Phenomena
Old Medline
Ponds
Rats
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Reversal Learning
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Summary:It is well known that electrical stimulation in portions of the lateral hypothalamic area is positively reinforcing and induces eating in satiated rats. We have found that continuous stimulation of this kind can also motivate satiated and previously untrained rats to learn the location of food in a T-maze. Efficient acquisition and reversal of discriminations for food indicate that lateral hypothalamic stimulation exerts motivational effects which are functionally equivalent to those of food deprivation.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.149.3683.559