title: Effects of amygdala lesions on body weight, conditioned taste aversion, and neophobia.
abstract: Female rats with posterodorsal amygdala (PDA), basolateral amygdala (BLA), or sham lesions were compared regarding ad libitum food intake, weight gain, consumption of a novel food, and acquisition of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA). While only the rats with PDA lesions evidenced substantial weight gains at 10 days after surgery eating standard lab chow (25-45 g more than the other groups), only the rats with BLA lesions demonstrated significant deficits in the CTA and neophobia paradigms. Rats with basolateral lesions, on average, took less than 30 s to begin drinking the novel sweetened condensed milk after pairing with illness while the other groups took approximately 15 min to begin drinking. Also, rats with basolateral lesions ate, on average, 5 g of the novel Froot Loops while the other groups ate approximately 2 g. It is concluded that the changes in food-motivated behavioral tests frequently observed in animals with amygdala lesions do not coexist with the hyperphagia and weight gain of animals with PDA lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA. brollins@uno.edu
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Rollins
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Stines
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012931:Social Environment; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*