GASTRIC PATHOLOGY AND APHAGIA FOLLOWING LATERAL HYPOTHALAMIC-LESIONS IN RATS - EFFECTS OF PREOPERATIVE WEIGHT-REDUCTION

The body weights (BW) of male albino rats were reduced gradually to 80% of normal BW by restricting food intake (dieting), and then the rats were given lateral hypothalamic (LH) lesions. Compared with rats of normal BW sustaining similar brain lesions, the dieted group displayed a shorter period of postoperative aphagia and less gastric pathology. In a 2nd experiment, a group of rats was reduced to 80% of normal BW by withholding all food (fasting) and then given LH lesions. Compared with dieted rats sustaining similar brain damage, the fasted group displayed a longer period of postoperative aphagia and greater gastric pathology. Since the duration of aphagia could be shortened or lengthened by simple manipulations of preoperative BW, the adequacy of sensorimotor or motivational hypotheses to account for aphagia was questioned. The results were more consistent with the suggestion that gastric abnormalities produced by LH lesions inhibited eating.