To control and observe first feeding experiences, pups were reared without access to food. At weaning age, individual pups received simultaneous access to a palatable, noncaloric diet and a similar diet containing starch. Each diet contained a flavor cue. Within 20 min of sampling both diets pups preferentially ingested the caloric alternative. Further tests indicated that pups learned a prefer...

Preferred chewing side is a still controversial matter and various methods used have yielded some inconsistencies. The aim of this study is to compare the preference determined in different conditions. Nineteen healthy subjects were offered hard (walnut) and soft (cake) foods, while the electromyography was recorded from their masseter muscles, in 2009 in the Research Center of Physical Medicin...

We studied the importance of the hippocampus and subiculum for anterograde and retrograde memory in the rat using social transmission of food preference, a nonspatial memory task. Experiment 1 asked how long an acquired food preference could be remembered. In experiment 2, we determined the anterograde amnesic effects of large lesions of the hippocampus that included the subiculum. In experimen...

The ability to predict how another individual will behave is useful in social competition. Chimpanzees can predict the behaviour of another based on what they observe her to see, hear, know and infer. Here we show that chimpanzees act on the assumption that others have preferences that match their own. All subjects began with a preference for a box with a picture of food over one with a picture...

A test of socially acquired food preferences was used to study the effects of large lesions to the hippocampal formation (HPC) on anterograde and retrograde memory in rats. In the anterograde test, rats with HPC lesions normally acquired the food preference but showed a faster rate of forgetting than control groups. When the food preference was acquired preoperatively, HPC groups exhibited a te...

Most research on stimulus preference and reinforcer assessment involves a preference assessment that is followed by a reinforcer assessment. Typically, the most and least preferred stimuli are tested as reinforcers. In the current study, we first quantified the reinforcing efficacies of six food items and then assessed relative preference for each item. Relative preference ranking and reinforce...

Introduction: Natural rewards are essential for survival. However, drug-seeking behaviors can be maladaptive and endanger survival. The present study was conducted to enhance our understanding of how animals respond to food and morphine as natural and drug rewards, respectively, in a conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. Methods: We designed a protocol to induce food CPP and compare it ...

The single-stimulus (SS) preference assessment procedure has been described as more appropriate than the paired stimulus (PS) procedure for "lower functioning" individuals, but this guideline's vagueness limits its usefulness. We administered the SS and PS preference assessment procedures with food items to seven individuals with severe or profound developmental disabilities who scored at level...

Using an unbiased place preference paradigm, opiate-naive rats were conditioned as follows: one side was paired with 18-h food deprivation, and the other environment was paired with 18-h food deprivation and morphine (20 mg/kg i.p.). On the test day, animals showed a large prefer· ence for the environment paired with hunger and morphine. The acquisition of this preference was unaffected by bila...

(A) Flies initially prefer ethanol-containing food, but with time develop stronger preference. (B) They dislike quinine-containing food, a choice that does not change over time. (C) Initially, flies will avoid quinine-containing ethanol-food, but over time, they are willing to overcome the aversion to quinine, and will drink the alcohol-containing food. Shamsideen A. Ojelade and Adrian Rothenfluh