Behavioral and neuroscientific research of the feeding behavior elicited by physical and chemical characteristics of foods

已知味觉可以作为条件刺激（CS）用于条件性食物厌恶。在本研究中，为了检验食物的温度和硬度是否可以是CS，我们在Wistar大鼠中进行了行为和神经科学实验。结果如下：（1）蒸馏水温度厌恶性条件反射大鼠能学习回避这些CS，但不能回避任何味觉刺激。（2）对食物硬度进行厌恶性条件反射的大鼠也能学会回避这些CS。（3）双侧杏仁核毁损大鼠不能获得对CS温度和硬度的条件反射。（4）在冷应激条件下，大鼠杏仁核内FOS蛋白表达增加。这些结果表明，大鼠对食物的温度和硬度具有条件反射性，杏仁核在这种条件反射中起重要作用。

It is known that taste can act as a conditioned stimulus (CS) for conditioned food aversion. In the present study, in order to examine whether or not the temperature and hardness of foods can be a CS, we conducted behavioral and neuroscientific experiments in Wistar rats. The results were follows : (1)The rats subjected to aversive conditioning to temperature of distilled water could learn to avoid these CSs, but they did not avoid any taste stimuli. (2)The rats subjected to aversive conditioning to hardness of foods also could learn to avoid these CSs. (3)The rats with bilateral lesions of amygdala could not acquire conditioning to temperature and hardness of the CS. (4)When the rats subjected to aversive conditioning to temperature of distilled water durunk CS,FOS proteins were expressed in their amygdala. These results suggest that rats can be conditioned to temperature and hardness of foods aversion and that amygdala plays an important role for this conditioning.