Eating and drinking in rats with anterior or posterior amygdaloid lesions

Abstract

Electrolytic lesions were placed bilaterally either in the anterior or in the posterior amygdala of albino rats. In terms of comparisons of lesion data with data for animals with corresponding control operations, anterior amygdaloid lesions had no significant influence on either water or overall food intake nor on body weight, while posterior amygdaloid lesions significantly increased water consumption without reliably altering food intake or body weight. It is proposed that the dorsal portion of the anterior amygdala may contain neural elements which facilitate food consumption and inhibit water intake, that the posterodorsal amygdala may contain excitatory elements for food intake, and that the middle portion of the amygdala as a whole may facilitate water intake.