Parametric analysis of brain stimulation reward in the rat: II. Temporal summation in the reward system

Defines reward summation functions as the empirical functions relating running speed in a runway and waiting-box paradigm to the number or current intensity of the electrical pulses a rat receives for running. In an experiment with male white rats, repeated determination of such functions, with another parameter of stimulation varied between determinations, yielded parameter trade-off functions. These functions describe the amount of change required in 1 parameter to compensate for a change in another parameter. These functions place quantitative constraints on the neurophysiological events underlying the reward effect. Results suggest that such constraints mediate the identification of the neurophysiological substrate for the reward effect in self-stimulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).