Strength of electrical stimulation of lateral hypothalamus, food deprivation and tolerance for quinine in food.

Abstract

Using the technique of quinine-tolerance thresholds with rats, normal hunger (food deprivation) was compared with feeding behavior induced by electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus. Increased hours of food deprivation and increased current intensity both increased rats'' tolerance for quinine in milk. When electrical stimulation was combined with food deprivation, rats tolerated more quinine in milk than when tested under either condition separately. Although these same animals were induced by electrical stimulation to drink water, there were no reliable "summation" effects in quinine-tolerance thresholds in water when stimulation was combined with food depriva-tion or water deprivation.