Activity of nucleases in the rat brain during training with emotionally varying reinforcement.

Training of rats with emotionally positive and negative reinforcements leads to increase in activity of acid (pH of 5.0) and alkaline (pH of 8.0) nucleases in the neocortex, hippocampus, areas of the midbrain (including the hypothalamus, subthalamus, and thalamus), and caudal section of the brain stem. However, the dynamics of nuclease activation differ depending on the emotional type of reinforcement and level of trainability of the animals. When intensities of enzyme activity are compared in the structures investigated, maximal activation is found in the caudal section of the brain stem.