IndexIntroductionResultsDiscussion/InterpretationIntroductionThis article studies the effect on pleasure centers on the behavior of an organism, in particular the outcome if the organism can stimulate them on command. The specific topic stated is "reinforcement function of electrical stimulation", which essentially means that instead of using the electrical impulse to study what it triggers (movement, emotion, reaction), you use the electrical impulse to study perception of reward and punishment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The hypothesis, although never directly stated, appears to be that electrical stimulation through the use of chronically implanted electrodes in hooded male rats, has the ability to interact with the physical structures of the brain in such a way that there is correlation between acquisition scores and anatomical structures. This study was conducted on a group of 15 hooded male rats, weighing approximately 250 grams each. The experiment was conducted in a Skinner box, providing an isolated and variable controlled environment. This particular box design delivered alternating currents to the brain when a lever was activated. The currents were delivered via electrode needles isolated from each other and on all parts of their structure except the tip which was implanted into the desired brain structures. The needles were implanted under general anesthesia and the rats were given a three-day recovery period before surgery. experience. Once healed and X-rayed to ensure correct placement of the needles, they were placed in the box where current was delivered via a loose wire from the ceiling, connecting the stimulator (the lever the rat can press) to the rat's electrode. a total of 6-12 hours were allowed. of acquisition tests (if the mouse activated the lever in the box, electrical stimulation was provided under their control) and 1 to 2 hours. of extinction tests (if the mouse activated the lever in the box, nothing happened). The portion of acquisition time spent activating the lever was recorded and compared to the portion of extinction time spent doing the same to determine whether the stimulation had a positive, negative, or neutral reinforcing effect. Once the part of the study in which the shocks were delivered or not delivered was concluded, the rats were “sacrificed” and their brain sections were preserved in formalin so that the structures could be studied. Results The highest scores came from mice with electrodes placed in the central portion of the forebrain. These mice had behavior that very closely mimicked conventional environmental reward systems such as food or physical contact. When electrodes are placed near the caudate nucleus or in the area of the corpus callosum, the stimulus is registered as a neutral environmental factor, neither as punishment nor as reward. While several other locations in the brain were recorded as positive, the medial lemniscus and the posterior portion of the medial geniculate bodies were recorded as a negative stimulus. One position behaved as an outlier in the positive stimulus, namely the positioning between the red nucleus and the red nucleus. posterior commissure, however other factors make comparison with other data points difficult. Looking at the data collected on the behavior of the mice in the study, the more the results were indicative of a positive stimulus, the more they pulled the trigger to activate it. Discussion/Interpretation These results,.
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