The effect of taste familiarity on intake and taste reactivity in infant rats

Dev Psychobiol. 2010 Mar;52(2):109-20. doi: 10.1002/dev.20418.

Abstract

With infant rats, unlike with adults, increased intake of a taste after mere exposure to this stimulus is not consistently found; this has sometimes been interpreted as a failure by the immature subject to recognize tastes as familiar. We studied the effect of preexposure to a tastant, measuring taste reactivity and intake in 14-day-old rats. Familiarity increased hedonic response to sucrose, but also increased aversive response to quinine and ethanol. With the sucrose-quinine compound, familiarity increased both the hedonic and the aversive reaction to the stimulus. In no case was a differential reactivity to water observed. Significant increased intake after familiarization was only found with quinine or the sucrose-quinine compound. Results indicate that in infant rats, and with the present parameters, taste familiarity enhances responsiveness to these stimuli, an effect not always accompanied by detectable changes in intake.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animals
  • Animals, Suckling
  • Behavior, Animal / drug effects
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology
  • Ethanol / administration & dosage
  • Female
  • Food Preferences / drug effects
  • Food Preferences / physiology*
  • Male
  • Quinine / administration & dosage
  • Rats
  • Recognition, Psychology / physiology*
  • Recognition, Psychology / radiation effects
  • Sucrose / administration & dosage
  • Taste / drug effects
  • Taste / physiology*
  • Taste Threshold / drug effects
  • Taste Threshold / physiology*
  • Video Recording

Substances

  • Ethanol
  • Sucrose
  • Quinine