Investigation of masticatory behavior controlled by taste stimuli.

由食物的化学和物理性质引起的感觉，如味道、气味和质地，在进食行为中是重要的。本研究以Wistar雄性大鼠为研究对象，采用A、b、Bh三种颗粒剂进行行为学实验。当给大鼠两种成分不同但硬度相似的颗粒A和Bh时，大鼠更喜欢Bh而不是A。当两种食物都粉碎成粉末时，大鼠更喜欢A而不是Bh，说明A的味道比Bh好。另一方面，当给大鼠提供两种成分相同但硬度不同的颗粒Bs和Bh时，大鼠更喜欢软食物（Bs）而不是硬食物（Bh）。当两种粉末都被磨成粉末时，由于味道相同，老鼠食用它们的方式相似。在摄入Bs的同时，小鼠腹腔注射0.15M的LiCl（体重的2%），结果表明小鼠对Bh的偏好高于Bs。这一发现表明，老鼠可以根据食物的质地来辨别食物。目前的研究表明，食物的质地在食物的选择和摄入中起着重要作用。

Sensations elicited by chemical and physical properties of food, such as taste, odor and texture, are important in ingestive behavior. This study aimed to examine the importance of texture, we conducted behavioral experiments in Wistar male rats using three kinds of pellets, A, Bs and Bh. When the rats were presented with two types of pellets, A and Bh, which have different ingredients but have similar hardness, they preferred Bh to A. When both foods made smashed into powder, the rats preferred A to Bh, indicating that the taste of A was better than Bh. On the other hand, when the rats were presented with two types of pellets, Bs and Bh, which have the same ingredients but have different hardness, they preferred soft food (Bs) to hard one (Bh). When both were powdered, the rats consumed them similarly because of the same taste. After ingestion of Bs was paired with an ip injection of 0.15M LiCl (2% of body weight), the animals preferred Bh to Bs. This finding suggests that the rats can discrimination foods on the basis of their texture. The present study suggests that the texture of food plays an important role in selection and ingestion of food.