Hypothalamic substrates of self-stimulation in cats.

The purpose of this study was to gather anatomical data concerning sites for self-stimulation in the lateral hypothalamus in the cat. The study was conducted on 25 adult cats. In each cat, one to three monopolar stimulating electrodes were implanted bilaterally in the lateral hypothalamus in a region between sections Fr 10.0 and Fr 13.0, L 2.0 and L 5.0, and H -2.0 and H -6.0. A reference electrode was placed in the calvaria over the frontal sinus. Twenty-two of these cats learned to press a lever when each press was rewarded by a brief (0.3 s) electrical stimulus (2.0 to 7.0 V, 100/s, 1 ms duration per pulse) delivered to the hypothalamus. Postmortem anatomical analysis of the brains revealed that most of the positive rewarding sites were located in a midlateral hypothalamic zone, which included the medial forebrain bundle, and were localized to section Fr 11.5, between L 2.0 and L. 5.0, and H -3.0 and H -5.5.