Abstract
Seventeen-day-old rat pups received intraoral infusions of two novel flavors, coffee (0.625% w/v Sanka, decaffeinated) and saccharin (0.5% w/v), of which one (CS+) was paired with a 0.75% body weight, i.p. injection of 0.4 M LiCl, and the other (CS−) was presented alone. On the following day, two more infusion tests were conducted to determine intake of each flavor. Intake of the CS+ flavor was markedly suppressed, relative to that of the CS− flavor, although the magnitude of this effect depended on which flavor was designated CS+ and on the order in which CS+ and CS− were presented on the test day. These results indicate that preweanling rats are capable of discriminative taste aversion learning. This simple conditioning procedure should provide a useful method for studying the sensory development of the gustatory system and/or the developmental psychobiology of learning and memory.
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This research was supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Thanks are due Craig Barry for assistance with graphics and to Phil Bushnell and Michela Gallagher for reviewing an earlier version of this manuscript. Disclaimer: This manuscript has been reviewed by the Health Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.
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Stanton, M.E., Nicolle, M.M. Taste discrimination learning in preweanling rats. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 28, 319–322 (1990). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334033
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334033