Conditioned aversion to brain-stimulation reward: effects of electrode placement and prior experience

A conditioned aversion to rewarding amygdaloid brain-stimulation was established by injecting rats with toxic doses of 0.15 M LiCl immediately after an initial self-stimulation session. The aversion had extinguished by the third self-stimulation session, 96 h after conditioning. This effect cannot be attributed to general depressant effects of LiCl on self-stimulation as treatment with LiCl 24 h before the second self-stimulation session was ineffective. Furthermore, this conditioned aversion was locus specific as LiCl injections immediately after the first test session had no disruptive effects on self-stimulation in the substantia nigra. The parallels between conditioned aversion to rewarding brain-stimulation in the amygdala and late aversion were strengthened by the fact that the novelty of brain-stimulation reward was an important factor in the conditioning effect. These data have important implications for understanding the sensory properties of brain-stimulation reward.