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Science 5 November 1976:
Vol. 194. no. 4265, pp. 637 - 639
DOI: 10.1126/science.982032
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Articles

Science, Vol 194, Issue 4265, 637-639
Copyright © 1976 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Tail-pinch stimulation: sufficient motivation for learning

GF Koob, PJ Fray, and SD Iversen

A paper clip applied to the tails of rats induced gnawing and eating, which decreased in latency and increased in duration with experience. With sustained pressure to the tail, rats learned a new habit in order to gain access to wood chips on which to gnaw. That these are also properties of behavior elicited by electrical brain stimulation suggests that both manipulations may act through the same mechanism. These results support the hypothesis that a nonspecific arousing stimulus can be a sufficient condition for establishing learned habits.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Tail pinch versus brain stimulation: problems of comparison.
(1978)
Science 201, 839-840
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Tail Pinch Versus Brain Stimulation: Problems of Comparison.
R. J. KATZ (1978)
Science 201, 840-841
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Tail Pinch Versus Brain Stimulation: Problems of Comparison.
P. J. FRAY, G. F. KOOB, and S. D. IVERSEN (1978)
Science 201, 841-842
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Cholecystokinin inhibits tail pinch-induced eating in rats.
C. Nemeroff, A. Osbahr 3rd, G Bissette, G Jahnke, M. Lipton, and A. Prange (1978)
Science 200, 793-794
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