Modification of Motivated Behavior Elicited by Electrical Stimulation of the Hypothalamus

Abstract

Previous reports demonstrated that hypothalamic stimulation may elicit either eating, drinking, or gnawing and emphasized both the specificity of the neural circuits mediating these behaviors and the similarity to behavior during natural-drive states such as hunger and thirst. We find that, after a period of very consistent elicitation of one of these behaviors, the animal may exhibit an equally consistent alternate behavior. A learning component is implicated in the association of hypothalamic stimulation with a particular behavior pattern.