1. Some characteristics of self-stimulation behavior of dogs.
- Author
-
Sadowski B and Dembińska M
- Subjects
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Body Temperature, Corpus Striatum physiology, Dogs, Electrodes, Implanted, Extinction, Psychological, Feeding Behavior, Hypothalamus physiology, Male, Mammillary Bodies physiology, Masticatory Muscles, Motivation, Respiration, Reward, Seizures, Septum Pellucidum physiology, Brain physiology, Self Stimulation
- Abstract
Self-stimulation was studied in dogs chronically implanted with electrodes in different points within the basal forebrain. The animals exhibiting pure self-rewarding behavior were defined as "optimal" and "good self-stimulators", whereas those with concomitant aversive phenomena were incorporated into the third category called "self-stimulation-withdrawal". In "optimal self-stimulators" a remarkable resistance of the response to extinction was noted. A strong negative attitude toward food was found in four dogs upon stimulation of the self-rewarding loci. Penile erection accompanied self-stimulation in two animals. Sniffing at first always followed incentive brain stimulation, but later it appeared at the beginning of each experiment and/or preceded the bouts of pressing. A rise of hypothalamic temperature was noted in mast of the animals. In some cases this was equal to or exceeded 1 degree Celsius. The temperature increase was accompanied by intense panting between the bouts. Seizures appeared locally as contractions of masticatory muscles and sometimes developed into a generalized fit. Anatomically the "reward area" in the dog extends from the septum and the preoptic area to the mammillary bodies and reaches laterally to the internal capsule.
- Published
- 1973