Intracranial self-stimulation in 3-day-old rat pups.
Three-day-old rat pups with electrodes directed at the medial forebrain bundle at the level of the lateral hypothalamic area were trained to push a paddle to receive electrical brain stimulation. Pups receiving stimulation that was contingent on lifting the paddle responded more frequently than did control pups and also learned a two-choice spatial discrimination task that was rewarded with brain stimulation. The experiments indicate that a neural substrate in the area of the medial forebrain bundle is involved in the central mediation of reinforcement in the rat pup.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D008474:Medial Forebrain Bundle / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012653:Self Stimulation / Q000502:physiology*