Home About us Contact | |||
Conditioned Taste Aversion (conditioned + taste_aversion)
Selected AbstractsDomperidone interferes with conditioned disgust reactions but not taste avoidance evoked by a LiCl-paired taste in infant ratsDEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Ricardo Marcos Pautassi Abstract Rats exhibit taste avoidance and conditioned disgust reactions when stimulated with a tastant paired with lithium chloride (LiCl). Lithium-mediated activation of chemoreceptor nuclei at the brainstem appears to determine the acquisition of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) in adult rodents. Domperidone (DOM), an anti-emetic drug that does not cross the blood,brain barrier, was employed to analyze mechanisms underlying LiCl-mediated CTA in infant rats. On postnatal day 13 animals were given DOM followed by a pairing between intraoral saccharin and LiCl. Saccharin consumption at testing was lower in lithium-treated pups than in controls. DOM did not interfere with this LiCl-mediated taste avoidance but significantly decreased LiCl-mediated disgust reactions (head-shaking and wall climbing). Activation of the emetic system of the brainstem does not seem necessary for the acquisition of LiCl-mediated conditioned taste avoidance. Yet, these centers seem to be involved in the palatability shift resulting from taste-LiCl pairings. These results indicate an early dissociation between conditioned disgust reactions and conditioned taste avoidance. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 343,352, 2008. [source] Brain mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase: relation to acetaldehyde aversion in low-alcohol-drinking (UChA) and high-alcohol-drinking (UChB) ratsADDICTION BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2003Marķa elena Quintanilla Previous reports indicate that the low-drinker (UChA) rats, when compared to high-drinker (UChB) rats, display lower mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) activity due to a mutation of the Aldh2 gene. Because a later study found line differences in sensitivity to the aversive effects of acetaldehyde (AcH) administered intraperitoneally (i.p.), which were not associated with the line difference detected in blood AcH levels, the present study examined the contribution of brain ALDH2 activity to AcH aversion in UChA and UChB rats. In experiment 1, we established the dose-response curves for AcH aversion (25, 50 or 100 mg/kg i.p.) in rats of both lines by using a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm. The results confirm our previous finding that UChA and UChB rats presented marked differences in their AcH aversion thresholds, which were not associated with the line differences detected in blood AcH levels. In experiment 2, the possibility that the inhibition of the brain ALDH2 would lower the AcH aversion threshold in both lines was studied by determining the effect of cyanamide (10 mg/kg i.p.) pretreatment, an inhibitor of ALDH, on AcH aversion, blood AcH levels and brain ALDH2 activity. The finding that blocking the brain ALDH2 (52%) by cyanamide can make a non-aversive dose of AcH (25 mg/kg) aversive to UChA and UChB rats at blood AcH levels comparable to those induced by a non-aversive dose of AcH (100 mg/kg) in control UChB rats indicates that the line difference in AcH aversion is associated more with brain ALDH2 activity than with liver ALDH2 activity. [source] Effects of insular cortex lesions on conditioned taste aversion and latent inhibition in the ratEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 9 2007Christopher Roman Abstract The present study tested the hypothesis that lesions of the insular cortex of the rat retard the acquisition of conditioned taste aversions (CTAs) because of an impairment in the detection of the novelty of taste stimuli. Demonstrating the expected latent inhibition effect, nonlesioned control subjects acquired CTAs more rapidly when the conditioned stimulus (0.15% sodium saccharin) was novel rather than familiar (achieved by pre-exposure to the to-be-conditioned taste cue). However, rats with insular cortex lesions acquired taste aversions at the same slow rate regardless of whether the saccharin was novel or familiar. The pattern of behavioural deficits obtained cannot be interpreted as disruptions of taste detection or stimulus intensity, but is consistent with the view that insular cortex lesions disrupt taste neophobia, a dysfunction that consequently retards CTA acquisition because of a latent inhibition-like effect. [source] Role of cortical cannabinoid CB1 receptor in conditioned taste aversion memoryEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 11 2007Tali Kobilo Abstract The brain endocannabinoid system has been shown to play a role in memory, though the extent to which this role generalizes over different types and processes of memory is not yet determined. Here we show that the cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) plays differential roles in acquisition, extinction and reconsolidation of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) memory in the rat insular cortex, which contains the taste cortex. Activation of the CB1 receptor in the insular cortex inhibits acquisition and reconsolidation but not extinction, whereas blockade of the CB1 receptor promotes memory and blocks extinction of CTA, while having no apparent effect on reconsolidation. The CB1 ligands used in this study were incapable of substituting the unconditioned stimulus in CTA training. All in all, the data raise the possibility that the state of activity of the CB1 receptor in the insular cortex contributes to the encoding of hedonic valence that enters into association with taste items. [source] Previous experience of withdrawal from chronic diazepam ameliorates the aversiveness of precipitated withdrawal and reduces withdrawal-induced c-fos expression in nucleus accumbensEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 4 2000Sarah J. Dunworth Abstract Flumazenil (20 mg/kg, i.p.)-precipitated withdrawal from chronic treatment with diazepam (DZP, 15 mg/kg, s.c. in sesame oil for 21 days) resulted in a decreased seizure threshold to the convulsant, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ), infused into the tail vein; withdrawal from 21-day chronic diazepam treatment, interspersed with two periods of drug withdrawal, resulted in a greater decrease in convulsant threshold. A separate experiment showed that consumption of a sucrose solution immediately prior to precipitated withdrawal resulted in a decreased subsequent consumption of the sucrose solution; no such evidence of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) was seen in mice given prior experience of withdrawal. Thus, prior experience of withdrawal enhanced the effects of a subsequent precipitated withdrawal in increasing seizure sensitivity, but weakened the ability of this withdrawal to serve as an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US). The weakening of the aversive properties of precipitated withdrawal may reflect habituation to the withdrawal stimulus, and was accompanied by a loss of the ability of withdrawal to induce c-fos expression in the shell of the nucleus accumbens, an area sensitive to both novel, and stressful, as well as rewarding stimuli. [source] Impaired spatial reference memory and increased exploratory behavior in P301L tau transgenic miceGENES, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2006L. Pennanen The neuropathological hallmark shared between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and familial frontotemporal dementia (FTDP-17) are neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) which are composed of filamentous aggregates of the microtubule-associated protein tau. Their formation has been reproduced in transgenic mice, which express the FTDP-17-associated mutation P301L of tau. In these mice, tau aggregates are found in many brain areas including the hippocampus and the amygdala, both of which are characterized by NFT formation in AD. Previous studies using an amygdala-specific test battery revealed an increase in exploratory behavior and an accelerated extinction of conditioned taste aversion in these mice. Here, we assessed P301L mice in behavioral tests known to depend on an intact hippocampus. Morris water maze and Y-maze revealed intact spatial working memory but impairment in spatial reference memory at 6 and 11 months of age. In addition, a modest disinhibition of exploratory behavior at 6 months of age was confirmed in the open field and the elevated O-maze and was more pronounced during aging. [source] Helplessness in the Tail Suspension Test Is Associated with an Increase in Ethanol Intake and Its Rewarding Effect in Female MiceALCOHOLISM, Issue 3 2005Yann Pelloux Background: Depression is frequently observed in drug abusers. However, depression may be a primary factor of predisposition to drug abuse or a consequence of drug abuse. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of a preexisting depressive-like state/helplessness on subsequent alcohol responsiveness in mice. Methods: Male and female CD1 mice were selected according to their immobility time in the tail suspension test, and only mice with "high immobility" and "low immobility" time were retained. Using a two-bottle free-choice paradigm, these mice were given continuous access to tap water or solutions of ethanol (3,20% v/v), quinine (12.5,50 mg/liter), or sucrose (1,4% w/v). In female mice, rewarding and aversive effects of ethanol (1.5 and 3 g/kg, intraperitoneally) were also investigated using the conditioned place preference and the conditioned taste aversion paradigms. Results: Female mice were more immobile and drank more ethanol than male mice. No striking sex difference was observed in quinine consumption. Sucrose intake was higher in female than in male mice, whatever the solution concentration. At the 4% concentrated solution, a sucrose-induced increase in daily fluid intake was observed only in female mice. Female mice with high immobility time (HI) consumed more ethanol at the highest concentration than female mice with low immobility time (LI), whereas no difference was observed between HI and LI male mice. Moreover, whereas LI female mice failed to express place conditioning induced by the 3-g/kg dose of ethanol, HI female mice were strongly responsive to the rewarding effect of this high ethanol dose. Ethanol dose-dependently induced a conditioned taste aversion with a similar magnitude in both LI and HI female mice. Conclusions: The findings indicate that female CD1 mice tend to drink greater amounts of ethanol or sucrose solutions than male CD1 mice, suggesting that female mice may be a better model of excessive alcohol intake. Furthermore, no relationship was found between immobility scores and ethanol consumption in male mice. On the contrary, within female mice, HI mice consumed higher amounts of ethanol than LI mice probably because they experienced greater rewarding effects of ethanol. The present results support the hypothesis that depressive-like responses may predispose to ethanol abuse in female mice. [source] Effects of insular cortex lesions on conditioned taste aversion and latent inhibition in the ratEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 9 2007Christopher Roman Abstract The present study tested the hypothesis that lesions of the insular cortex of the rat retard the acquisition of conditioned taste aversions (CTAs) because of an impairment in the detection of the novelty of taste stimuli. Demonstrating the expected latent inhibition effect, nonlesioned control subjects acquired CTAs more rapidly when the conditioned stimulus (0.15% sodium saccharin) was novel rather than familiar (achieved by pre-exposure to the to-be-conditioned taste cue). However, rats with insular cortex lesions acquired taste aversions at the same slow rate regardless of whether the saccharin was novel or familiar. The pattern of behavioural deficits obtained cannot be interpreted as disruptions of taste detection or stimulus intensity, but is consistent with the view that insular cortex lesions disrupt taste neophobia, a dysfunction that consequently retards CTA acquisition because of a latent inhibition-like effect. [source] |