Biomaterial Database

Gustatory detection thresholds after parabrachial nuclei lesions in rats. 1995

A C Spector, and G Scalera, and H J Grill, and R Norgren

Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611-2250, USA.

Rats with either electrolytic (Experiment 1) or excitotoxic lesions (Experiment 2) that had been electrophysiologically centered in the gustatory zone of the parabrachial nuclei (PBN) were tested for sucrose and NaCl taste detection thresholds in a conditioned avoidance task. With 1 exception, all of these rats had previously shown severe deficits in acquiring an LiCl-based conditioned taste aversion (CTA) to sucrose, NaCl, or alanine. The rats with excitotoxic lesions also had failed to express a depletion-induced sodium appetite. Despite the uniformity of these deficits, the rats with lesions exhibited varied performance in the detectability task. Roughly 1/3 of the rats did not perform competently, 1/3 had elevated thresholds, and 1/3 showed no or only marginal impairments in taste detectability. These findings demonstrate that the elimination of CTA following PBN lesions is not necessarily linked to an impairment in taste signal detection. Thus, PBN-induced deficits on 1 taste-related task do not entirely correspond with impairments on another.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009042	Motivation	Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli.	Incentives,Disincentives,Expectations,Disincentive,Expectation,Incentive,Motivations
D009434	Neural Pathways	Neural tracts connecting one part of the nervous system with another.	Neural Interconnections,Interconnection, Neural,Interconnections, Neural,Neural Interconnection,Neural Pathway,Pathway, Neural,Pathways, Neural
D011939	Mental Recall	The process whereby a representation of past experience is elicited.	Recall, Mental
D001931	Brain Mapping	Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures.	Brain Electrical Activity Mapping,Functional Cerebral Localization,Topographic Brain Mapping,Brain Mapping, Topographic,Functional Cerebral Localizations,Mapping, Brain,Mapping, Topographic Brain
D003214	Conditioning, Classical	Learning that takes place when a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.	Reflex, Conditioned,Classical Conditioning,Classical Conditionings,Conditioned Reflex,Conditionings, Classical
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001069	Appetite Regulation	Physiologic mechanisms which regulate or control the appetite and food intake.	Food Intake Regulation,Intake Regulation, Food,Regulation, Appetite,Regulation, Food Intake,Appetite Regulations,Food Intake Regulations,Intake Regulations, Food,Regulations, Appetite,Regulations, Food Intake
D001245	Association Learning	The principle that items experienced together enter into a connection, so that one tends to reinstate the other.	Association Learnings,Learning, Association,Learnings, Association
D001362	Avoidance Learning	A response to a cue that is instrumental in avoiding a noxious experience.	Aversion Behavior,Aversion Learning,Aversive Behavior,Aversive Learning,Avoidance Behavior,Aversion Behaviors,Aversive Behaviors,Avoidance Behaviors,Behavior, Aversion,Behavior, Aversive,Behavior, Avoidance,Behaviors, Aversion,Behaviors, Aversive,Behaviors, Avoidance,Learning, Aversion,Learning, Aversive,Learning, Avoidance
D013652	Taste Threshold	The minimum concentration at which taste sensitivity to a particular substance or food can be perceived.	Taste Thresholds,Threshold, Taste,Thresholds, Taste