The adaptive significance of a positive relationship between hunger and gross bodily activity has long been recognized. It is the restless animal that is most likely to encounter food.As early as 1922, Richter (6) demonstrated an increase in the daily activity of the rat when deprived of food for a prolonged interval. Employing four animals in tambour supported cages, he found that activity increased steadily through the second to third day of privation and declined steadily thereafter. At about the same time, Wada (11) reported a temporal coincidence between stomach contractions and "stirs" in the sleep of both infant and adult human subjects. Similarly, Powelson (5), in observations of a stomach transplant in the rat, recorded a correspondence between general muscular activity and gastric contraction. Morgan (4) views this as the reflection of a common underlying condition affecting the nervous system. Both Shirley (7) and Skinner ( 9) have reported that activity builds up to a maximum that occurs in the interval immediately preceding controlled daily feeding. This finding is subject to an interpretation that extends beyond the "pure" effect of hunger since Geier (2) has shown that the "expectancy" of food may generate a state of generalized tension expressible in heightened bodily activity.
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