Comparison of reinforcing effects yielded by lateral versus medial hypothalamic stimulation.

Abstract

The reinforcing consequences of brain stimulation on rats with chronic electrodes in the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) of the lateral hypothalamus and with electrodes in the medial hypothalamus (MH) were compared by means of 5 diverse behavioral measures. Marked differences between the 2 groups in all tests indicated that MH stimulation yields ambivalent reinforcement while MFB stimulation yields pure positive reinforcement. The implications of the findings for the problem of selftermination of reinforcing brain stimulation were discussed.