Abstract
In female Sprague-Dawley rats, 8 of 12 medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) sites that yielded criterion self-stimulation behavior supported only self-stimulation, i.e. were 'pure reward' in type. The remaining 4 sites supported behavior to escape from experimenter-administered stimulation of the same parameter as well, i.e. were 'reward-escape' in type. 'Pure reward' and 'reward-escape' sites in the MPFC were distinguished by both the magnitude and temporal form of the escape response functions generated, and by the prevalence of 'pounce-back', a vigorous and repetitive barpressing during the 3-s MPFC stimulation-escape interval produced by an effective barpress. The finding that both 'pure reward' and 'reward-escape' patterns of behavior can be elicited by stimulation on the MPFC provides a basis for futher assessment of similarities and differences in medial prefrontalcortical and lateral hypothalamic (LH) 'reward' systems. It is suggested that 'reward-escape' in the MPFC may be mediated by the activity of 'reward' neurones which respond to stimulus offset, rather than by a secondary aversive process as is proposed to underlie 'reward-escape' in the LH.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 226-232 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Brain Research |
Volume | 483 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 3 1989 |
Keywords
- Brain stimulation
- Medial prefrontal cortex
- Pure reward
- Reward-escape
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Neuroscience
- Molecular Biology
- Clinical Neurology
- Developmental Biology