Exposure to the odor of food determines the eating preferences of rat pups

Paul M. Bronstein, David P. Crockett

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rat pups found garlic-laced food to be less preferred than unadulterated Purina lab chow. A tolerance for the nonpreferred rations was established, however, by exposure of developing rat pups either to maternal females fed garlic-tainted food or to a colony room suffused with the garlic odor. A final study showed that the alteration of rats' preferences due to these early experiences was only transient. Pups exposed to garlic prefer food laced with that flavoring at the time of weaning, but not on subsequent tests.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)387-392
Number of pages6
JournalBehavioral Biology
Volume18
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1976
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Environmental Science
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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