Facilitation of avoidance behavior by positive brain stimulation.

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Abstract
Rats were trained in a shuttle box to avoid punishing midbrain stimulation. After avoidance performances stabilized, usually at low levels, brief stimulation was applied to various brain points at the start of a trial; later, each priming electrode was evaluated for positive reinforcement in a self-stimulation test. In general, strongly reinforcing electrodes in the medial forebrain bundle and associated tegmental regions facilitated avoidance behavior; nonrewarding electrodes in cortex and other sites did not except for a dorsal hippocampal point that distinctly facilitated avoidance but provided little or no reinforcement. Amphetamine had effects much like positive brain stimulation. These results are consistent with the view of Woodworth and Schlosberg that avoidance responses eventually depend on positive incentives for their maintenance.

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