The effect of olfactory and auditory stimuli on drinking suppressed with a conditioned taste aversion

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to assess the effect of auditory and olfactory stimuli on drinking that had been suppressed with a conditioned taste aversion procedure. Each study used a different conditioned stimulus. The first used an 8% saccharin solution which was readily consumed by rats, while the second used a 1% anise solution that was not as readily consumed by rats. The use of a relatively palatable conditioned stimulus and an unpalatable conditioned stimulus allows for an examination of any effect amount of consumption prior to conditioning might have. The results indicated that the stimuli increased drinking suppressed with a conditioned taste aversion in both studies and drinking by control rats in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1 the stimuli either had no effect or suppressed drinking in the control rats. These results indicate that low levels of drinking can under some circumstances, be increased via the presentation of olfactory or auditory stimuli. They further suggest that deflation of drinking from a high to a low rate is not necessary to observe this effect.