Medullary mechanisms for eating and grooming behaviors in the cat

Electrical stimulation of localized regions of the medullary reticular formation induced well-coordinated eating and grooming behaviors in cats. The findings suggested that these behaviors resulted from the activation of specific sensorimotor mechanisms, rather than from the induction of generalized drive states. Eating and grooming, however, were directed and goal dependent, and not merely motor automatisms. Other elicited responses included escape behavior and fragmentary components of threat behavior. The findings contribute to the growing view that the lower brain stem may play an important role in the elaboration and control of complex species-characteristic behaviors.