Taste Preference and Discrimination with Cortical Lesions

Abstract

Three groups of rats were tested both before and after bilateral ablation of the taste sensory cortex. The first group, exposed to quinine hydrochloride (QHC1) in a two-bottle preference situation, showed large deficits post- operatively, but these were considerably reduced by the fourth postoperative week. A second group, tested for sodium chloride (NaCI) discrimination in a modified signal detection situation, also showed significant postoperative impairment. A third group, QHC1 discrimination, was discarded for failure to learn the detection task. The fourth group, NaCI preference, gave results which were very unclear compared with NaCI discrimination and QHC1 preference. It is concluded that preference tests are unsatisfactory measures of taste sensitivity, unless the stimuli possess extreme aversive or preferred qualities.