title: Competition between lever-pressing behavior and thermoregulatory behavior on exposure to heat in intracranial self-stimulating rats.
abstract: To investigate the relationship between the thermoregulatory system and the brain-reward system, we examined effects of heat exposure and tail amputation on lever-pressing behavior in intracranial self-stimulating rats. Rats that continuously pressed a lever voluntarily for 1 hour at an ambient temperature (Ta) of 22 degrees C interrupted lever pressing and showed heat loss behaviors, such as grooming and body extension, at a Ta of 36 degrees C. Hypothalamic temperature (Thy) at the time of the first body extension was higher than that after 1 hour of lever-pressing at a Ta of 22 degrees C. Tail amputation experiments showed the same result. Thy at the onset of the body extension after tail amputation was higher than that at the end of 1 hour of lever-pressing under control conditions. The data suggest that thermal factors, especially Thy, are important in the control of lever-pressing behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanosue
mesh_terms: D000671:Amputation, Surgical; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012653:Self Stimulation; D013623:Tail