Saccharin drinking by hungry rats: adjustment to constraints.
In food-deprived rats, rate of lapping at a saccharin cylinder declines progressively over a session. The decline is unaffected, within limits, by restricted access: Whether the cylinder is available continuously, or only during alternate 30-sec intervals, the rat adjusts its momentary lap rate so that the amount of lapping within each 5-min period remains the same. It is as if the rat specifies over each brief period how much ingestive behavior is to occur, and then adjusts its lap rate so that actual ingestive behavior matches the specification. The specification in turn moves down as the drinking bout progresses.
D000818:Animals; D004327:Drinking Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005508:Food Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012439:Saccharin; D013997:Time Factors
D012439:Saccharin