Curt Richter: Spontaneous activity and food intake

Curt Richter's seminal contributions to the field of psychobiology continue to enlighten us today. His approaches to scientific questions, his ability to design ways of allowing his research subjects (usually rats) to answer his questions and his unique style of data presentation inform current investigations into the biological bases of behavior. One of Richter's earliest interests was identifying the causes of rhythmic spontaneous activity. Richter demonstrated an important relationship between bouts of activity and food intake in the laboratory rat. In his search for a causal link, he invoked contemporary thinking about the relationships between gastric contractions and hunger. Although his idea for a causal role for stomach contractions in eliciting spontaneous activity and food intake was mistaken, this early work identified themes for many of Richter's subsequent contributions and his behavioral observations continue to be relevant for current investigations.