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The sham rage
experiments established the hypothalamus as
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playing a
prominent role in coordinating emotional behavior.
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Further studies
by Stephen Ranson in the 1930s and by Walter
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Hess in the 1940s
extended these findings. These
investigators
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placed electrodes
in the hypothalamus (Ranson in anaesthetized
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animals, and Hess
in unanaesthetized animals) and applied
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stimulation. Hess found that stimulating different
parts of the
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hypothalamus
produced characteristic reactions that appeared to
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correspond to
specific emotional states. For
example, stimulation of
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the lateral
hypothalamus caused autonomic and somatic responses
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consistent with
anger: increased blood pressure,
raising of the body
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hair, pupillary
constriction, etc.
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These studies
lead to the view that the hypothalamus can facilitate
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the coordination
of peripheral emotional responses, a view that is
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supported by some
lesion studies showing distinct emotional
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changes dependent
upon the location of a hypothalamic lesion.
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