Self-stimulation in the ventromedial hypothalamus.
Male Sprague-Dawley rats pressed a bar for electrical stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamus. The threshold for such behavior correlated positively with the threshold to stop feeding and the threshold to escape from prolonged stimulation at the same electrode site. The results again open the question of the role that the ventromedial area is playing in positively reinforcing and punishment systems.
D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004924:Escape Reaction; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011678:Punishment; D051381:Rats; D012201:Reward; D012653:Self Stimulation