Control of-treadmill exercise of rats with hypothalamic stimulation

Running and resting behavior of rats was measured during treadmill exercise under conditions involving (1) rear-shock avoidance, (2) continuous electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus, or (3) no rear-shock and no hypothalamic stimulation. Hypothalamic stimulation was superior for eliciting consistent running with a minimum of resting. A second experiment demonstrated that decreases in hypothalamically elicited treadmill running resulting from prolonged exercise could be counteracted by increasing the intensity of the hypothalamic stimulus. A third experiment suggested that very little training was needed to induce a high and consistent level of running performance using hypothalamic stimulation.