Afferent projections to quiet attack sites in cat hypothalamus

Quiet biting attack by a cat on a rat was elicited by electrical stimulation of sites in the cat's lateral hypothalamus. Horseradish peroxidase was deposited at the attack sites. Cells containing reaction products were found in gyrus proreus, anterior and central medial amygdaloid nuclei, lateral and medial preoptic areas, substantia innominata, the bed nuclei of stria terminalis, and anterior commissure. The dorsomedial area of the hypothalamus, paraventricular nucleus, supramammillary region, and posterior hypothalamic area also contained reactive cells. In the midbrain the ventral tegmental area of Tsai, the dorsal and superior central nuclei of the raphe, central gray matter and interpeduncular nucleus were regions with reactive cells. In the pontine region, the locus coeruleus, parabrachial nuclei, nucleus of the lateral lemniscus, and the dorsal tegmental nucleus of Gudden all had reactive cells. There are many structures which send afferent projections to quiet attack sites located in the hypothalamus and the pontine tegmentum. The commonality of afferents to attack sites lends credence to the notion that a complex, distributed, interactive network underlies the neural basis of attack behavior.