Behavior conditioned taste aversion

Kosten, Therese A., Mindy J. Miserendino, Sandra Chi, and Eric J. Nestler. 1994. "Fischer and Lewis Rat Strains Show Differential Cocaine Effects in Conditioned Place Preference and Behavioral Sensitization but Not in Locomotor Activity or Conditioned Taste Aversion." Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 269 137-44. 

A learned behavior that is obviously of adaptive advantage to an animal is its ability to avoid a substance that it ingested shortly before the onset of an illness or adverse effect. This conditional taste aversion can be used to measure toxicity, for example, by pairing a novel taste (a sugar treat, for example) with administration of a toxicant. If the animal feels ill soon afterward, it will avoid the novel substance in the future. This technique has proved to be sensitive to the effects of neurotoxic agents. 

The behavioral effects of dermal exposure to maneb were studied in adult male Swiss mice (Mitchell et al. 1989). Five mice per dose group were dermally exposed to either 16, 160, or 1,600 mg/kg maneb in a conditioned taste aversion assay. Aversion to a saccharin solution was tested 24 hours following the dermal application of the compound to a shaved area on the mouse s back, immediately caudal to the skull. Maneb application did not affect taste aversion compared to water controls. Activity was measured for both ambulatory and nonambulatory activity ambulatory was when a subject sequentially disrupted at least two adjacent infrared beams in an activity monitor nonambulatory activity was when a subject sequentially broke the same beam. When given at a dose of 1,600 mg/kg, maneb increased the activity levels of a tested group (5 subjects) by 3-fold over controls. When the mice were tested individually, however, there were no... 

There is, however, little doubt that genetic influences can play a role in determining taste preference behavior. For example, mice of different species show different preference responses to 10% glucose versus 10% fructose (59), different conditioned aversion responses to various sugars FO), and different saccharin preference behavior (. ... 

The approach to developing improved bird repellents can proceed along these same lines. There are numerous seeds, berries, and plants that birds normally avoid. Part of this avoidance could be due to conditioned aversion (89) or to aversive taste (93). Regardless of the physiological and behavioral mechanisms involved in the repellent effects, I believe the trend toward exploitation of natural food items as a source for developing more attractive or repellent animal food flavors will continue. 

---