The neural pathways mediating quiet-biting attack behavior from the hypothalamus in the cat: A functional autoradiographic study

Abstract

Electrical stimulation of the region of the lateral hypothalamus produced a consistent form of quiet‐biting attack behavior in cats. In one series of experiments, cats, implanted with electrodes from which attack had been elicited, were anesthetized and then were injected with a bolus of 14C‐2‐deoxyglucose at the same time as electrical stimulation was delivered through the attack electrodes. Brains prepared for X‐ray autoradiography revealed that lateral hypothalamic stimulation activated the classical medial forebrain bundle pathway supplying the septal region, diagonal band, lateral preoptic area, and ventral tegmental region. Stimulation of quiet‐attack sites in perifornical hypothalamus resulted in the activation of a much more extensive projection system which included the central and lateral tegmental fields of the midbrain and pons, and central gray region, as well as the structures described above. In a second series of experiments, 3H‐leucine was placed into the region of the electrode tip from which attack was elicited in order to identify more precisely the pathways arising from that site. In general, tritiated amino acid radioautography replicated the 14C‐2‐deoxyglucose findings. In addition, the amino acid radioautographic data revealed the presence of extensive projections from perifornical hypothalamus to such pontine structures as the nucleus locus coeruleus, motor nucleus of NV, and the lateral pontine tegmental field. The functional connections between the lateral hypothalamic “attack region” and lateral preoptic zone were also confirmed by electrophysiological methods.

Parting's sweet sorrow: A pain pathway for the social sentiments?

“…Concerning the statement that a "stimulus-bound" appetitive behavior does not change when an electrode is passed through the relevant hypothalamic field in a given cat, we have observed that the region from which quiet biting attack can be obtained is quite limited (approximately 0.5-1.0 mm. across), and that this observation supports the specificity hypothesis (Fuchs, Dalsass, Siegel, & Siegel 1981). In addition, in studies dealing with affective display behavior, we have routinely found that dorsomedial hypothalamic stimulation will evoke flight behavior and that, as the electrode is passed ventrally for a short distance into the region of the ventromedial nucleus, the behavior evoked changes to affective display.…”

Maternal behavior in rats: Evidence for the involvement of preoptic projections to the ventral tegmental area.

“…A neural projection route that travels between the preoptic region and the VTA, which we have shown to be particularly important for retrieving and nest building, has also been shown to be important for the control of other types of oral motor responses, including (a) angiotensin-induced drinking in rats (Swanson et al, 1978); (b) quiet biting attack in cats (Fuchs, Dalsass, Siegel, & Siegel, 1981;Halliday & Bandler, 1981); (c) gnawing induced by electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus (Roberts, 1980). Also worth pointing out is that VTA lesions disrupt hoarding behavior in rats (Stinus, Gaffori, Simon, & Le Moal, 1978).…”