ROLE OF ELECTRICALLY EXCITABLE MESENCEPHALIC BEHAVIORAL MECHANISMS IN NATURALLY OCCURRING ATTACK AND INGESTIVE BEHAVIOR

Electrical stimulation of the mesencephalon dorsolateral to the central gray has been shown to elicit mouse killing but not ingestive behavior. In contrast, stimulation of the ventrolateral portions of the mesencephalon elicits ingestive but not mouse killing behavior. The present experiment investigated the effects of radiofrequency lesions of these areas on naturally occurring muricide and eating. The results indicate that the areas originally outlined with electrical stimulation play a role in the naturally occurring forms of these behaviors and that at the level of the mesencephalon these mechanisms are anatomically partially segregated. © 1979.