Abstract
Cats were conditioned to consume food for rewarding electrical stimulation of the brain and were then made aphagic by hypothalamic lesions. In subsequent experiments, electrical stimulation of the brain was found to be an effective reinforcer for food consumption in these aphagic animals. In the context of the present experiment, this result supports the following conclusions regarding the aphagic syndrome of hypothalamic origin: motivational forces play a role in the behavior of aphagic animals after hypothalamic lesions; whatever mechanisms are responsible for aphagia, they can be overriden by motivational factors; and prior training can affect the consumption of food in aphagic animals. The present study also supports the following statements involving reinforcing electrical stimulation of the brain: electrical stimulation of the brain can be used as a reward for food consumption in aphagic animals; the circuitry underlying the physiological, psychological and motor phenomena involved in electrical stimulation of the brain is not completely disrupted in the aphagic animal.
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