title: Consumption of a highly palatable food induces a lasting place-conditioning memory in marmoset monkeys.
abstract: Highly palatible foods may induce addiction-related behaviors. However, this has yet to be established in non-human primates. Therefore, we evaluated whether marmoset monkeys (Calllithrix penicillata) acquire a conditioned-place-preference (CPP) for chocolate and if this response is detectable after a 24-h and 15-day period. Subjects were first habituated to a two-compartment CPP box and then randomly assigned to a chocolate or control group. Thereafter, they were given access to only one compartment during daily 15-min conditionings, held on six consecutive days. On each trial, the chocolate group received pieces of chocolate (50g) in this context, whereas controls were not given a food reward. Marmosets were subsequently tested for preferring this (food) paired context after a 24-h and 15-day interval. During conditioning, individual foraging and the amount of chocolate ingested by each pair of the chocolate group remained constant. However, compared to pre-CPP levels, the time spent inside/in contact with the conditioned compartment increased significantly, while the latency to first entry decreased on both post-CPP intervals. For controls, the parameters remained unaltered. Thus, chocolate induced a persistent CPP response-an aspect usually associated with drug-related rewards.
authors.affiliation: Primate Center and Department of Physiological Sciences, Institute of Biology, University of Brasilia, CEP 70910-900 Brasilia, DF, Brazil.
authors.forename: R B M
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Clinical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of L'Aquila, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy; Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, via del Fosso di Fiorano 65, 00143 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Patrono
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of Brasilia, CEP 70910-900 Brasilia, DF, Brazil.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.affiliation: Primate Center and Department of Physiological Sciences, Institute of Biology, University of Brasilia, CEP 70910-900 Brasilia, DF, Brazil.
authors.forename: A A S
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: César
authors.affiliation: Primate Center and Department of Physiological Sciences, Institute of Biology, University of Brasilia, CEP 70910-900 Brasilia, DF, Brazil.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tomaz
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, via del Fosso di Fiorano 65, 00143 Rome, Italy; Department of Psychology and Research Center "Daniel Bovet", Sapienza University, via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Clinical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of L'Aquila, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy; Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, via del Fosso di Fiorano 65, 00143 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gasbarri
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, via del Fosso di Fiorano 65, 00143 Rome, Italy; Department of Psychology and Research Center "Daniel Bovet", Sapienza University, via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puglisi-Allegra
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of Brasilia, CEP 70910-900 Brasilia, DF, Brazil. Electronic address: mbarros@unb.br.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barros
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002099:Cacao; D002144:Callithrix / Q000502:physiology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D057567:Memory, Long-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012201:Reward
keywords: Chocolate; Food reward; Long-term memory; Marmoset; Place-conditioning