A long-term effect of an early stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus on the acquisition and extinction of a food reinforced operant conditioning in the rat.

Two experiments point out the effect of an early stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus on later behavior of rats. Stimulated at 15 days of age, animals showed an improvement in both acquisition of a food reinforced operant conditioning (two different proceedings) and extinction of this conditioning, studied during the sixth week of age. The results are discussed in terms of a high plasticity of the central nervous system at time of the stimulation.