Lesions which destroy the area postrema (AP) and damage the adjacent nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) attenuate or abolish conditioned taste aversions (CTA) induced by a variety of pharmacological agents as well as exposure to radiation. In the present experiment, 4 groups of male rats received lesions of AP and 4 groups were given sham lesions. One sham-lesioned and one AP-lesioned group were given a single pairing of 1-hr access to a novel 0.10% sodium saccharin solution followed immediately with exposure to 0, 100, 200, or 400 rad of gamma radiation, respectively. Four days later all groups were given daily two-bottle preference tests (saccharin vs. water) on 4 consecutive days. The sham-lesioned groups exposed to the radiation (100, 200, or 400 rad) developed profound aversions to the saccharin on all test days ( p<0.001). In contrast, all of the AP-lesioned groups as well as the sham-irradiated (0 rad) sham-lesioned group exhibited strong, comparable ( p>0.30) preferences for saccharin. Thus, lesion of AP abolished the radiation-induced CTA at all dose levels of radiation. These results raise the possibility of pharmacological intervention at the level of AP to prevent radiation-induced CTA in cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.