Intracranial self-stimulation in mice using a modified hole-board task: effects of d-amphetamine.

Mice implanted with stimulating electrodes in the lateral hypothalamus demonstrated reliable self-stimulation rates when given the opportunity to break a photobeam in a modified hole-board task. Self-stimulation rates were enhanced by low dosages of d-amphetamine but were depressed by high dosages. The dose-dependent effects of amphetamine could not be accounted for by changes in exploratory hole-board activity and were discussed in terms of an interaction between the rewarding properties of electrical brain stimulation and the reinforcing properties of amphetamine administration.