Abstract
Two experiments with rats explored the effects of sodium deprivation induced by furosemide injections upon acquisition of taste aversion to sodium chloride (NaCl). In Experiment 1, rats under either sodium deprivation or a balanced nutrition condition were given access to a limited amount of NaCl solution prior to poisoning. When all rats were tested under sodium repletion, the previously sodium-deprived rats consumed less NaCl than did the nondeprived rats. This finding was replicated in Experiment 2A in which ingestion of a compound solution of NaCl and hydrochloric acid (HCl) was followed by poisoning. Consumption of HCl, however, showed the opposite pattern: the sodium-deprived rats drank more HCl than did the nondeprived rats, a result that was replicated in Experiment 2B. These results suggest that sodium deprivation strengthens the salience of NaCl, thereby facilitating acquisition of aversion to this taste and strongly overshadowing that to a simultaneously presented taste.
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