title: Carbohydrate-conditioned odor preferences in rats.
abstract: The effectiveness of odor cues to support nutrient-conditioned flavor preferences in rats was studied. When the rats drank fluid, the CS+ odor was paired with intragastric (IG) infusions of Polycose, and the CS- odor with IG water. In Experiment 1, rats trained with almond and anise odors presented with plain drinking water failed to acquire a CS+ odor preference. In contrast, rats in Experiment 2 formed a strong aversion to anise (or almond) paired with lithium chloride, which indicated that the odors were distinguishable to the rats. Experiment 3 showed that providing unique tastes (bitter or sour) in combination with the odors during training potentiated odor conditioning. The rats displayed a strong preference for the odor+taste CS+ and for the odor component alone. Experiment 4 showed that with another pair of odor (peppermint and vanilla), CS+ preferences could be conditioned in the absence of taste cues during training. These results demonstrate that rats can acquire strong nutrient-conditioned odor preferences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College of CUNY 11210, USA.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sclafani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D005936:Glucans; D018021:Lithium Chloride / Q000633:toxicity; D011939:Mental Recall; D009042:Motivation; D051381:Rats; D012903:Smell; D013649:Taste
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D005936:Glucans; D018021:Lithium Chloride