Discriminative properties of rewarding electrical brain stimulation.

Rewarding electrical brain stimulation (EBS) can serve as a discriminative stimulus. It has long been suspected that this discriminative property reflects the subjective intensity of the rewarding effect. In turn, the counter model of spatiotemporal integration attributes the subjective reward intensity produced by a stimulation train of fixed duration to the number of firings triggered in the directly activated neural substrate.

Comparison of progressive hold and progressive response schedules of reinforcement.

Progressive ratio (PR) schedules have been widely used to study motivation to work for a reinforcer. After a post-reinforcer pause, subjects engage in pressing a lever until a reinforcer is obtained. However, the discrete nature of lever presses allows alternative behaviors during inter-response time and has led to several behavioral explanations of pauses and work time.

Exposure to a hypercaloric diet produces long lasting changes in motivation.

Changes in motivation have been observed following induction of diet-induced obesity. However, to date, results have been contradictory, some authors reporting an increase in motivation to obtain palatable food, but others observing a decrease. Observed differences might be associated with the length of both the evaluation period and exposure to the diet.

Binge eating behavior and incentive motivation with a cafeteria diet.

Binge-like eating behavior (BLE) has been characterized as an eating disorder in which subjects have an enhanced intake of food, mainly fats. However, intake of fats and carbohydrates may have differential effects on motivation. Previously it was shown that BLE produces an increase in operant responding for vegetable shortening, but others were unable to replicate the finding using sucrose as the reinforcer.

Dissociation between binge eating behavior and incentive motivation.

Binge-like eating behavior (BLE) has been characterized as an eating disorder in which subjects have an enhanced intake of food, mainly fats. However, intake of fats and carbohydrates may have differential effects on motivation. Previously it was shown that BLE produces an increase in operant responding for vegetable shortening.