Abstract
Two experiments examined the behaviour of rats during recovery from food or water deprivation. Both in their home cages and in a residential environment (plus-maze), rats systematically reexplored their familiar surroundings, particularly after they had partly satisfied their deficits and before they settled again to rest. Partial recovery from deprivation apparently ‘disinhibited’ exploration. The pattern of such patrolling in the plus-maze was, at least, a second-order process; the identity of an arm visited was influenced by the identity of the previous two arms visited within the same activity bout. Adaptation to the schedule of restricted access to food and water was accompanied by changes in the parameters of activity bouts and in the sequences of movements about the mazes, but not by an increase in total time spent ‘active’. Although rats directed their initial behaviour more to remedying their immediate deficits, the level of patrolling was nevertheless maintained.
Published Version
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