A Y-maze test reveals the positively reinforcing properties of electrical stimulation of the mesencephalic central gray area.
Animals stimulated in the dorsal part of the mesencephalic central gray area (CG) are able, as are animals stimulated in the lateral hypothalamus, to discriminate between the reinforced and the non-reinforced arm of an Y-maze to trigger a continuous electrical stimulation. This result clearly demonstrates that stimulation of the dorsal part of CG has an appetitive component.
D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003463:Cues; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D007026:Hypothalamic Area, Lateral / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010487:Periaqueductal Gray / Q000502:physiology*; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology