Acquisition of dietary self-selection in rats with normal and impaired oral sensation.
To study the mechanisms of dietary self-selection, the dietary choice behavior of rats was observed for up to 5 weeks, beginning on the first day of exposure to two nutritionally different diets, a high-protein diet (44% protein) and a protein-free carbohydrate diet. In Experiment 1 normal rats selected equal amounts of the two selection diets at first and over a 7-day period gradually modified the choice ratio until a stable protein intake of 14.6% (SE,0.4) of total intake was reached. In Experiment 2 rats were subjected to partial trigeminal deafferentation, which impairs oral somatosensory input (touch, temperature, pain), before the two selection diets were introduced. The deafferented animals did not develop a stable selection pattern; their protein ratio varied over the entire possible range (0-44%) throughout the experiment. It is hypothesized that quantitative protein/carbohydrate selection involves an associative learning process in which somatosensory inputs from the feeding activity and/or from the properties of the food link dietary choice behavior to later metabolic consequences.
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004032:Diet; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005518:Food Preferences; D008297:Male; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D014276:Trigeminal Nerve / Q000502:physiology*
D004044:Dietary Proteins