Self-Stimulation definition of Self-Stimulation in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Self-Stimulation

a motor conditioned reflex by which an animal uses a lever to stimulate electrically the lower brain centers, including the rewarding center and the centers of stimulation and satisfaction. This phenomenon was discovered in rats by the American scientist J. Olds and the Canadian scientist P. Milner in 1954 and was subsequently reproduced in cats, dogs, dolphins, monkeys, and other animals. In many cases it was possible to show a connection between self-stimulation and the motivations of hunger, thirst, and sex, which made it possible to study self-stimulation as an artificial (imaginary) satiation. No such connection was observed in other cases, which indicated that the nerve apparatus of positive emotions in the hypothalamus and other parts of the brain was to a certain degree morphologically and physiologically independent. Human patients whose lower brain centers were stimulated for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes often reported feeling strong positive emotions and a sense of satisfaction and elation. This finally confirmed the relationship between self-stimulation and the lower brain centers of positive emotions.

Self-stimulation as a specific form of behavior has some characteristic features. When their satisfying brain centers are first stimulated by an electric current, animals start making searching movements, sniffing, and intensively exploring the environment. They quickly learn to receive self-stimulation by pressing the lever to close the electric circuit. Prolonged stimulation of the centers of satisfaction produces an emotionally negative response, and the animal will terminate stimulation by moving away from the lever. When the electric current is completely turned off, the self-stimulation conditioned reflex is usually quickly forgotten, and after several trials the animal ceases to press on the lever. Thus, self-stimulation does not become a habit, and the animal readily tolerates its cessation.

Changes in the electrical activity of the brain and the functions of the internal organs, for example, breathing, pulse rate, and blood pressure, during self-stimulation significantly differ from the aftereffects of the stimulation of the centers of the negative emotions of fear and pain. It is therefore possible to speak of the special state of the emotionally positive activation of the highest divisions of the central nervous system. Self-stimulation is a valuable experimental model with which to study the physiology of positive emotions and their effect on the activity of the brain and the body as a whole.

REFERENCES

Bekhtereva, N. P. Neirofiziologicheskie aspekty psikhicheskoi deiatel’nosti cheloveka. Leningrad, 1971.
Mikhailova, N. G. “Elektroentsefalograficheskie i vegetativnye korreliaty reaktsii samorazdrazheniia,” Zhurnal vysshei nervnoi deiatel’nosti, 1971, vol. 21, issue 1.
Milner, P. Fiziologicheskaia psikhologiia. Moscow, 1973. Pages 470–513. (Translated from English.)
Sem-Jacobsen, C. W. Depth-Electrographic Stimulation of the Human Brain and Behavior. Springfield, 111. [1968].

P. V. SIMONOV

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No references found	Autism is all about self-involvement, self-inclusion and self-stimulation. In a different world by The Week (Muscat, Oman) Schramm explains how self-stimulation can be a tool for teaching rather than a focus for elimination: The benefits of using stims to teach are two fold. Educate. Toward Recovery: Turning the Tables on Autism by Skidmore, Cathy A. / Education & Treatment of Children Affected individuals rigidly adhere to routines and comply with social conventions even when those conventions do not apply In addition, these individuals exhibit disorganization in the face of stress, overstimulation, and change, which manifests as frustration, self-stimulation, and distractibility and they develop inappropriate interpretations of social interactions. Asperger's diagnosis is tenuous after a crime by London, Susan / Clinical Psychiatry News	self-reset self-resetting loop self-reversal self-rising ground self-running droplet Self-Sacrifice self-saturation self-scanned image sensor self-screening range self-sealing self-sealing fastener self-sealing paint self-selection bias self-service application self-service elevator self-service refrigerator self-shielding self-similar flow self-similarity self-siphonage self-spacing tile self-spreading self-starter self-starting synchronous motor self-steering microwave array Self-Stimulation Self-Stressed Structure self-stressing self-subscribing self-supported film self-supporting wall self-sustaining wall self-synchronous device self-synchronous repeater self-tapping screw Self-Taxation self-test self-timer self-triggering program self-tuning regulator self-unloading ship self-vulcanizing selfish deoxyribonucleic acid Selgi seliana window Selianinov, Georgii Selianinov, Georgii Timofeevich Selidovo Seliger Seligeriales Seligman, Ben Baruch	Self-similar process Self-Similar Traffic Self-similarity Self-similarity Self-similarity Self-similarity self-siphonage Self-slaughter Self-Snoop self-sow self-sowed self-sowing self-sown self-sows self-spacing tile self-spreading self-starter self-starter self-starters self-starters Self-Starters Weekly Tips self-starting self-starting self-starting synchronous motor self-steering microwave array Self-sterile Self-sterile self-stick self-sticking Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale Self-Stimulation self-storage Self-Storage Education Network Self-Storage Fractional Ownership Self-Stressed Structure self-stressing Self-Structuring Antenna Self-Structuring Antenna System self-study self-study Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices Self-Study Workbook self-styled self-subscribing self-subsistence self-subsistent self-sucking self-sufficiency self-sufficiency Self-Sufficiency Program Self-Sufficiency Trust self-sufficient self-sufficient Self-Sufficient Solar House self-sufficiently self-sufficiently self-sufficing self-suggestion

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Autism is all about self-involvement, self-inclusion and self-stimulation.

In a different world by The Week (Muscat, Oman)

Schramm explains how self-stimulation can be a tool for teaching rather than a focus for elimination: The benefits of using stims to teach are two fold.

Educate. Toward Recovery: Turning the Tables on Autism by Skidmore, Cathy A. / Education & Treatment of Children

Affected individuals rigidly adhere to routines and comply with social conventions even when those conventions do not apply In addition, these individuals exhibit disorganization in the face of stress, overstimulation, and change, which manifests as frustration, self-stimulation, and distractibility and they develop inappropriate interpretations of social interactions.

Asperger's diagnosis is tenuous after a crime by London, Susan / Clinical Psychiatry News

self-scanned image sensor

self-screening range

self-sealing

self-sealing fastener