[The characteristics of the coordinated activity of functionally identified hypothalamic neurons under different...

Simultaneous impulse activity of pairs of neurons in hypothalamus was analysed in different natural functional states of rats (hunger, satiation after food deprivation, cry of a victim) and those induced by electrical stimulation of the emotionally positive (lateral hypothalamus, lateral preoptic area) and negative (dorso-medial tegmentum) reinforcing hypothalamic structures. Two classes of neurons were separated according to the pattern of their activity determined by the motivational state or reinforcement. Characteristic features were revealed in the patterns of conjugate activity of the functionally identified neurons. They were determined by the dominance of motivational or emotional component in the behaviour of an animal and manifested in a specificity of temporal delays in impulsation of one of the neurons in respect to the other one, in magnitude and number of positive and negative correlations. The results suggest the different ways of realization of the motivational and reinforcing hypothalamic influences mediated by the neurons of the motivational and reinforcing systems, on the cortical processes at different stages of learning which also differ in the balance between the motivational and emotional components of the animal behaviour.