Neurological reactivity during medial prefrontal cortex stimulation: effects of self-stimulation experience.
Electrical stimulation of the medial prefrontal cortex (MFC) induced a moderate behavioral suppression in a series of neurological tests that included measures of (1) open field activity (2) righting and climbing reflexes (3) somatosensory reactivity and (4) approach-withdrawal responsiveness to positive and negative stimuli. The same animals were trained to lever press for medial prefrontal cortex stimulation and after several days of self-stimulation were again tested for neurological reactivity during MFC stimulation. No habituation or lessening of behavioral suppression was evident as a result of self-stimulation experience. Therefore behavioral suppression, by itself, cannot account for the slow acquisition of MFC self-stimulation. Other data suggest that the stimulation interferes with the learning of complex operant responses and/or that the reward value of the stimulation is increased as a result of repetition.
D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000502:physiology; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012653:Self Stimulation / Q000502:physiology*