TY - JOUR
T1 - Anatomic and pharmacologic differences between two types of aversive midbrain stimulation
AU - Sanford Kiser, R.
AU - Lebovitz, Robert M.
AU - German, Dwight C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by NIH Research Grants 09975, 1-R01-MH26032, 1-F03-MH57690, and 5-S01-RR05426. The authors are grateful to Margaret Mendershausen and Cora Brown for their expert technical assistance, to George Boles, who helped in the early stages of this investigation, to Joan Reisch, who conducted the data analysis and to Diana Corn, who typed the manuscript.
PY - 1978/10/27
Y1 - 1978/10/27
N2 - Chronic stimulating electrodes were implanted into two separate midbrain sites in rats. One site was the dorsal central gray area (DCG), where electrical stimulation produced frantic, escape-seeking behavior which grossly appeared fear-like and/or pain-like. The other site was in the ventral reticular formation (VRF), where stimulation produced a stereotyped circling response. Stimulation at both sites was aversive in that these animals would bar press for escape in a decremental bar-pressing paradigm. In this paradigm, each bar press decremented the current by five per cent of the initial current level. Following the acquisition of stable baseline decremental bar-pressing performance, animals were given injections of either the serotonin-depleting drug, para-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), or the catecholamine-depleting drug, alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine (AMPT). Control animals received normal saline. Compared to saline control animals, PCPA-injected DCG-stimulated animals showed a marked change. AMPT-injected VRF-stimulated animals showed a marked decrease in decremental bar pressing, but the DCG-stimulated animals were not affected. These results suggest that escape behavior from electrical stimulation of midbrain sites is mediated by more than one neural system.
AB - Chronic stimulating electrodes were implanted into two separate midbrain sites in rats. One site was the dorsal central gray area (DCG), where electrical stimulation produced frantic, escape-seeking behavior which grossly appeared fear-like and/or pain-like. The other site was in the ventral reticular formation (VRF), where stimulation produced a stereotyped circling response. Stimulation at both sites was aversive in that these animals would bar press for escape in a decremental bar-pressing paradigm. In this paradigm, each bar press decremented the current by five per cent of the initial current level. Following the acquisition of stable baseline decremental bar-pressing performance, animals were given injections of either the serotonin-depleting drug, para-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), or the catecholamine-depleting drug, alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine (AMPT). Control animals received normal saline. Compared to saline control animals, PCPA-injected DCG-stimulated animals showed a marked change. AMPT-injected VRF-stimulated animals showed a marked decrease in decremental bar pressing, but the DCG-stimulated animals were not affected. These results suggest that escape behavior from electrical stimulation of midbrain sites is mediated by more than one neural system.
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U2 - 10.1016/0006-8993(78)91026-0
DO - 10.1016/0006-8993(78)91026-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 150878
AN - SCOPUS:0017857742
SN - 0006-8993
VL - 155
SP - 331
EP - 342
JO - Brain Research
JF - Brain Research
IS - 2
ER -