Modification of intracranial self-stimulation by hunger satiety

The modifying effect of hunger satiety on intracranial electrical self-stimulation through implanted electrodes has been studied in cats. A feeding center was confirmed in the lateral hypothalamus in which self-stimulation was uniformly "positively rewarding." The positive-reward self-stimulation behavior so elicited was inhibited by prior feeding and was augmented by hunger— including postamygdalectomy hyperphagia. Self-stimulation in the rostral hypothalamic mating center was found not to be inhibited by feeding but to cause a decrease in subsequent food intake. Self-stimulation in other subcortical areas from which positive-reward behavior was elicited, both rostral and caudal to the above centers, was not affected by fasting-feeding. Stimulation in the ventromedial hypothalamic satiety center was uniformly "negatively rewarding."