Acquisition and performance of avoidance responses during chemical stimulation of the midbrain reticular formation.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Small implant-produced lesions in the midbrain reticular formation (MRF) reliably reduced the performance of a simple avoidance response but did not affect an instrumental escape response. Initial and infrequently repeated cholinergic stimulation of the same site produced more severe and general behavioral deficits. Stimulated Ss[subjects] failed to respond to the CS [conditional stimulus] reliably more often than operated or unoperated controls and frequently did not respond appropriately to a prolonged noxious US [unconditional stimulus]. Frequently repeated cholinergic stimulation produced opposite behavioral effects: Stimulated Ss responded significantly more promptly and reliably to the CS than either operated or unoperated controls. The behavioral effects are believed to be related to motivation rather than simple sensory-motor deficits.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: