[Inhibiting and facilitating influences from the caudate nucleus on alimentary conditioned reflexes]

Abstract

Alimentary conditioned reflexes were studied in dogs during electrical stimulation of different zones of the caudate nucleus head with a 80 to 100 microampere current, of 5 c/s frequency and 0.5 msec pulse duration. The inhibitory influences came from the ventrolateral, and the activating ones, from the dorsal and central zones of the caudate nucleus head. Changes of conditioned reflexes resulting from its stimulation depended on the strength of the conditioned signals: the conditioned reflex to a weak stimulus (light) was more readily subject to changes as compared with the one to a strong signal (a metronome). The magnitude of unconditioned reflexes did not change in these experiments.