Clinical reports of alleviation of pain with positive brain stimulation were investigated experimnentally. Rats in a two-compartment testing chamber sought out hypothalamic stimulation and escaped from aversive foot shock delivered through a grid-scrambling device. Animals also sought out paired hypothalamic stimulation and foot shock. Control experiments demonstrating that animals did not discriminate between hypothalamic stimulcation and paired hypothalamic stimulation and foot shock supported the view that hypothalamic stimulation attenuates the aversive properties of foot shock.
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Cox et al. (1965) studied this question.