Offense produced by chemical stimulation of the anterior hypothalamus of the rat.

Offense behavior, including bite-and-kick attack, was obtained by microinjections of picrotoxin into the anterior hypothalamus of the rat. This is the first time that it has been possible to obtain offense by chemical stimulation of the brain, and the localization is more precise than that obtained with electrical stimulation. Mounting behavior and mounting by the opponent were also obtained from the anterior hypothalamus, the former corresponding to results obtained by previous studies using electrical stimulation. Other behaviors obtained from the hypothalamus included locomotion and circling, social and self-grooming, upright posture and boxing, digging, feeding, and leaping.