Stressor induced variations of intracranial self-stimulation from the mesocortex in several strains of mice.

Intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) from the mesocortex was assessed in BALB/cByJ, C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice immediately, 24 h and again 168 h following stressor application. Stressor exposure failed to influence ICSS performance in C57BL/6J mice, while self-stimulation performance was reduced among BALB/cByJ mice only in the immediate post-stressor interval. In contrast, DBA/2J mice exhibited reduced rates of responding for brain stimulation at each of the post-stressor intervals. The potential contribution of DA alterations to the strain-dependent variations of ICSS performance induced by uncontrollable footshock are discussed.