Alcohol preference in rats lacking gustatory neocortex.
Ingestion of alcohol solutions (in concentrations from 0.5 to 12% v/v) was examined in three experiments where rats lacking gustatory neocortex (GN) were compared with intact and control lesion rats. Two experiments tested alcohol consumption during a restricted schedule of fluid access with one or two bottle tests. The last experiment involved testing with continuous access to water and alcohol solutions in two bottle tests. Subgroups of rats in each experiment were presented with either an ascending or descending order of concentrations. In all experiments, GN rats consumed less total fluid during testing (relative to control rats). In general, GN rats exhibited similar patterns of alcohol consumption as that found in control rats. Where differences between GN rats and control rats were found, GN rats consumed more alcohol than control rats during tests with restricted fluid access. During continuous fluid access, however, no significant differences between GN rats and control rats were found.
D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000818:Animals; D001244:Association; D001835:Body Weight; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004327:Drinking Behavior; D005518:Food Preferences; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D014867:Water
D014867:Water