Stereotaxic mapping of brainstem areas critical for the expression of the rodent’s preference for the dark

Different groups of adult rats were subjected to discrete lesions in one of 36 different areas of the brain and were subsequently tested for the rodent’s predictable preference for the dark. Deficient preference scores were observed in those groups having damage to the occipito-temporal cortex, cingulate cortex, dorsal hippocampus, anterior hypothalamus, dorsomedial thalamus, posterior thalamus, midbrain reticular formation, interpedunculo/central-tegmental area, or pontine, reticular formation. These results were plotted on the Massopust (1961) atlas.