Glucoregulatory feeding by rats after intraventricular 6-hydroxydopamine or lateral hypothalamic lesions

Rats given intravenricular injections of 6-hydroxydopamine or bilateral electrolytic lesions of the lateral hypothalamus do not show the normal increase in food intake in response to large decreases in glucose utilization or exposure to severe cold stress. However, they will eat more during chronic glucoprivation that is less intense, or during exposure to more moderate cold stress. Thus, the feeding deficits of these lesioned rats may not reflect an inability to respond to certain qualitatively different stimuli, but rather an inability to respond to quantitatively different intensities of the same stimulus.