[Conditioning of emotional behavior caused by hypothalamic stimulation (3): The learned behavior caused by...

In the present study, the learned behavior caused by hypothalamic electrical stimulation was examined in order to determine the effects of psychotropic drugs. Subjects were albino male rabbits with electrodes chronically implanted in the hypothalamic area. A shuttle box, which was adjusted for behavioral pharmacological estimation of drugs in rabbits, was used. A buzzer sound (85dB) and electrical stimulation of hypothalamus (100 HZ, 1 msec, 1.2-2.0V) were used as the conditional stimulation (CS) and unconditional stimulation (UCS), respectively. The same animal was trained in habituation to a buzzer sound as the CS. For avoidance conditioning in a two-compartment situation, the animal was placed in a shuttle box divided by a hurdle situated at the middle of two-compartments. After the CS was presented for 10 sec, the UCS was given. The animals were subjected to 15 conditioning trials per day. The avoidance and escape behavior model became as distinct by hypothalamic stimulation as by UCS. After termination of the experiments, extinction trials were carried out after which the animals were sacrificed, and localization of the stimulating electrodes was determined histologically.