Gastric Motor Activity during Feeding Induced by Stimulation of the Lateral Hypothalamus in the Rat

Electrical stimulation of sites in the lateral hypothalamic feeding area of conscious rats elicited stimulus-bound feeding. Stimulation of the same sites when food was not available produced changes in gastric motility which depended on the initial state of gastric activity. If the stomach was active, gastric motility was inhibited; if it was quiescent, gastric motility was activated. In every case, however, a marked activation of gastric motility occurred after stimulation. Feeding behavior and concomitant changes in gastric motility were accompanied by a moderate increase in arterial blood pressure. Rats which did not exhibit feeding responses on lateral hypothalamic stimulation showed a stimulus-bound inhibition of gastric motility but no poststimulatory gastric activation.