We examined the role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in reward processing and the control of consummatory behavior. Rats were trained in an operant licking procedure in which they received alternating access to solutions with relatively high and low levels of sucrose (20 and 4%, w/v). Each level of sucrose was available for fixed intervals of 30 s over 30 min test sessions. Over several ...

Licking is a repetitive behavior controlled by a central pattern generator. Even though interlick intervals (ILIs) within bursts of licks are considered fairly regular, the conditions that affect their variability are unknown. We analyzed the licking pattern in rats that licked water, 10% sucrose solution, or 10% ethanol solution, in 90-min recording sessions after 4h of water deprivation. The ...

objective(s) wound licking has been shown to advance wound healing among humans and many other animals. the present study evaluates the licking effects on healing of skin wound in rats. materials and methods twenty four rats were assigned to 4 different groups randomly and two 3 cm longitudinal full thickness incisions were made on each dorsal and ventral side of rats. the ventral incisions wer...

UNLABELLED We examined the effects of systemically administered gabapentin on flinching and biting/licking behaviors produced by 2.5% formalin in the rat, compared these with those of amitriptyline, and determined the effects of combinations of gabapentin with amitriptyline. Gabapentin produced a dose-related inhibition of Phase 2, but not Phase 1, flinching and biting/licking behaviors. In con...

Many social animals have a species-specific repertoire of affiliative behaviours that characterise individualised relationships within a group. To date, however, quantitative studies on intragroup affiliative behaviours in social carnivores have been limited. Here, we investigated the social functions of the two most commonly observed affiliative behaviours in captive African lions (Panthera le...

Peripheral postischemic dysesthesia was examined behaviorally in mice and we investigated the underlying molecular mechanism with a focus on oxidative stress. Hind-paw ischemia was induced by tight compression of the ankle with a rubber band, and reperfusion was achieved by cutting the rubber tourniquet. We found that reperfusion after ischemia markedly provoked licking of the reperfused hind p...

A stable herd of fattening cattle comprising 9 steers and a heifer, which had been kept together over a month in a dry-lot, was observed for 13 days (0600-1900 h) to determine the diurnal distribution of the frequency of social licking interactions and to examine the relationship between social licking and agonistic behaviour. Agonistic behaviour was also classified into total (fighting, buntin...

Two-photon calcium imaging in awake, head-fixed animals enables the measurement of neuronal activity during behaviour. Often, licking for the retrieval of water reward is used as a measurable report of the animal's decision during reward-driven behaviour. However, licking behaviour can induce severe motion artifacts that interfere with two-photon imaging of cellular activity. Here, we describe ...

The greater superficial petrosal nerve (GSP), innervating taste buds in the palate, is known to be exceptionally responsive to sucrose, especially compared with the responsiveness of the chorda tympani nerve (CT). However, whereas transection of the CT (CTX) alone has little or no effect on unconditioned licking responses to many "sweet" stimuli, the impact of GSP transection (GSPX) alone is eq...