Effects of electrical stimulation of the hunger center in the lateral hypothalamus and food reinforcement on impulse activity of the mylohyoid muscle in rabbits under conditions of hunger and satiety.

Effects of electrical stimulation of the hunger center in the lateral hypothalamus and food reinforcement on impulse activity of mylohyoid muscle were studied in chronic experiments under conditions of hunger and satiety. Threshold stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus in starving and satiated rabbits in the absence of food induced searching behavior associated with burst-like impulse activity with a bimodal distribution of interpulse intervals. Regular spike burst in the mylohyoid muscle during stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus in the absence of food serves as an example of the anticipatory type reaction. Increased food motivation during threshold stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus in starving and satiated rabbits with food offered led to successful food-procuring behavior, during which the frequency of spike bursts in the mylohyoid muscle became comparable with that under conditions of natural foraging behavior stimulated by the need in nutrients. Our results suggest that temporal structure of mylohyoid muscle impulse activity reflects convergent interactions of food-motivation excitation with reinforcement excitation on neurons of the masticatory and deglutitive centers.

Method of evaluation of dynamic changes in food motivation in rabbits during successful food-procuring behavior.

We developed a method for evaluation of dynamic changes in the level of food motivation in rabbits during successful food-procuring behavior. Quantitative and temporal parameters of food consumption over each successive cycle of food-procuring behavior were used. The amount of consumed food was converted into electrical signal using an electronic balance incorporated into a hardware-software complex. Temporal parameters of food-procuring activity were determined by changes in electric signal in real-time mode. This method makes it possible to record simultaneously food-procuring activity and impulse activity of masticator muscles and esophageal muscles, which enables parallel analysis of rhythms of food consumption, mastication, and swallowing.

Effects of electrical stimulation of the hunger center in the lateral hypothalamus and food reinforcement on impulse activity of the proper masticatory muscle in rabbits under conditions of hunger and satiation.

Threshold stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus in starving and preliminary fed (satiated) rabbits in the absence of feed induces searching behavior associated with burst-like impulse activity of proper masticatory muscle with a bimodal distribution of interpulse intervals, what represents an anticipatory type of reaction. The increase in the level of food motivation during threshold stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus in starving and satiated rabbits with the food offered led to successful food-procuring behavior, during which the frequency and amplitude of spike bursts in the proper masticatory muscle become comparable with those under conditions of natural foraging behavior stimulated by the need in nutrients. Motivational excitation and backward afferentation from food reward are addressed to the same neurons of the masticatory center in the medulla oblongata.

Hunger and satiation in the structure of temporal organization of impulse activity of masticatory muscles in rabbits.

Impulse activity of masticatory muscles, jaw elevators and depressors, during hunger, eating, and satiation was studied in chronic experiments on rabbits. The state of hunger is specifically reflected in the structure of temporal organization of impulse activity of proper masticatory muscles as a monomodal distribution of interpulse intervals and in activity of the mylohyoid muscle as bimodal distributions. Food intake induces reorganization of the temporal structure of impulse activity in both muscles manifesting in the form of similar bimodal patterns of distributions of interpulse intervals.