Flavor-illness aversions: potentiation of odor by taste with toxin but not shock in rats.
Potentiation of odor by taste in rats was tested in a variety of situations. In three experiments, almond odor and saccharin taste were presented either as a single conditioned stimulus (CS) or as a compound CS and followed by either toxic lithium chloride or footshock. Extinction tests with the almond and saccharin components were then given. In single CS-toxin experiments, taste was more effective than odor, and after compound conditioning, the taste component potentiated the odor component. Conversely, in single CS-shock experiments, odor was more effective than taste, and after compound conditioning, no potentiation was observed. Rather, interference effects were observed. In Experiments 1 and 2, the addition of taste disrupted odor CS-shock conditioning, and in Experiment 3, odor interfered with taste CS-shock conditioning. Visceral feedback is apparently a necessary unconditioned stimulus for the potentiation of odor by taste. These data support the neural convergence and gating hypothesis of flavor aversion conditioning.
D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D002712:Chlorides / Q000506:poisoning*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects; D003463:Cues; D004326:Drinking / Q000187:drug effects; D004597:Electroshock; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D008094:Lithium / Q000506:poisoning*; D018021:Lithium Chloride; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012903:Smell / Q000187:drug effects*; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects*
D002712:Chlorides; D008094:Lithium; D018021:Lithium Chloride