Taste quality and intensity of 100 stimuli as reported by rats: the taste-location association task.

ABSTRACT: The interpretation of neural activity related to sensory stimulation requires an understanding of the subject's perception of the stimulation. Previous methods used to evaluate the perception of chemosensory stimuli by rodents have distinct limitations. We developed a novel behavioral paradigm, the taste-location association task, to complement these methods. First we tested if rats are able to learn associations between five basic taste stimuli and their spatial locations. This spatial task was based on four prototypical tastants and water. All four rats trained to perform the task reached levels of performance well above chance. Control trials demonstrated that the rats used only taste cues. Further, the learned stimulus set was resistant to interference, allowing for generalization expe

SUBMITTER: Gautam SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3349291 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature