Relationship of grooming and rearing to reinforcing stimulation of lateral hypothalamus in rats

Abstract

Grooming and rearing behavior were studied in relation to the reinforcing properties of brain stimulation within a single experimental paradigm. Rats displayed self-stimulation behavior in a shuttlebox by locomoting to and from one side of the box where lateral hypothalamic stimulation was continuously available. Rearing was observed primarily on the stimulation side of the box whereas grooming was observed mainly on the no-stimulation side. These differential associations of grooming and rearing with lateral hypothalamic stimulation were less pronounced under conditions where the same pattern of stimulation was administered noncontingently. The theoretical relationship of species-specific behaviors to reinforcement systems in the rat brain is discussed. © 1978, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.