Hypothalamic Motivational Processes as Reflected by their Hippocampal Electrical Correlates

Abstract

Electrical stimulation of the same hypothalamnic point with current of mild or strong intensity produces opposite behavioral effects; moreover, interruption of either kind of stimulation invariably results in the appearance of powerful antagonistic aftereffects. There is a strict correlation between approach behavior and hippocampal theta rhythm on the one hand and withdrawal behavior and desynchronization on the other. The importance of the antagonistic aftereffects in the organization of conditional processes and in the interpretation of the "drive reduction" hypothesis is emphasized.