Gallistel C R
J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1978 Dec;92(6):977-98. doi: 10.1037/h0077513.
Quantitative characteristics of the neural pathway that carries the reinforcing signal in electrical self-stimulation of the brain were established by finding which combinations of stimulation parameters give the same performance in a runway. The reward for each run was a train of evenly spaced monophasic cathodal pulses from a monopolar electrode. With train duration and pulse frequency held constant, the required current was a hyperbolic function of pulse duration, with chronaxie c approximately 1.5 msec. With pulse duration held constant, the required strength of the train (the charge delivered per second) was a hyperbolic function of train duration, with chronaxie C approximately 500 msec. To a first approximation, the values of c and C were independent of the choice either of train duration and pulse frequency or of pulse duration, respectively. Hence, the current intensity required by any choice of train duration, pulse frequency, and pulse duration dependent on only two basic parameters, c and C, and one quantity, Qi, the required impulse charge. These may reflect, respectively, current integration by directly excited neurons; temporal integration of neural activity by synaptic processes in a neural network; and the peak of the impulse response of the network, assuming that the network has linear dynamics and that the reward depends on the peak of the output of the network.
通过确定哪些刺激参数组合在跑道实验中能产生相同表现，建立了在大脑电自我刺激中携带强化信号的神经通路的定量特征。每次实验的奖励是来自单极电极的一串等间距单相阴极脉冲。在串持续时间和脉冲频率保持恒定的情况下，所需电流是脉冲持续时间的双曲线函数，时值c约为1.5毫秒。在脉冲持续时间保持恒定的情况下，所需的串强度（每秒输送的电荷量）是串持续时间的双曲线函数，时值C约为500毫秒。初步近似地，c和C的值分别独立于串持续时间和脉冲频率的选择，或者脉冲持续时间的选择。因此，由串持续时间、脉冲频率和脉冲持续时间的任何选择所要求的电流强度仅取决于两个基本参数c和C，以及一个量Qi，即所需的脉冲电荷量。这些参数可能分别反映了直接兴奋神经元的电流整合；神经网络中突触过程对神经活动的时间整合；以及假设网络具有线性动力学且奖励取决于网络输出峰值时网络脉冲响应的峰值。
