Abstract

HERNANDEZ, Varsovia  and  BRUNER, Carlos A.. Food-intake in rats controlled by a neutral stimulus. Acta comport. [online]. 2012, vol.20, n.3, pp. 255-267. ISSN 0188-8145.

A neutral stimulus contiguous with a subsequent access-to-food period increase food intake in rats relative to when the stimulus is presented either contiguous to the preceding access or randomly during the interaccess interval. The present experiment determined the effects of varying the temporal placement of the stimulus during the inter-access period. Three rats lived 24/7 in their respective experimental chambers and were given signaled 10-minute access-to-food periods every 160 minutes. During baseline no stimulus was present during the inter-access periods. On subsequent conditions, a 5 minute stimulus was placed on a fixed temporal location during the inter-access period, either 5, 10, 20, 40, 80 or 160 minutes before the next access period. The 5-minute placement increased intake relative to baseline. Lengthening the stimulusto- access period controlled corresponding decreases in food intake even below baseline. The implications of controlling food intake by intruding a neutral stimulus at different locations of the inter-access period are discussed.

Keywords : neutral stimulus; access-to-food interval; inter-access-to-food interval; food-intake; rats.

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