Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MSc)

Department

Psychology

Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

First Advisor

Rudy Eikelboom

Advisor Role

Thesis Supervisor

Abstract

In adult rats, wheel introduction induces a temporary feeding suppression, which may be the result of either a conditioned taste avoidance induced by wheel running (Left & Grant, 1996), or an anorectic effect produced by running (Mueller, Loft, & Eikelboom, 1997). The first experiment investigated the effect of alternate-day wheel access on consumption of novel 32% sucrose solution in 36 adult male rats. The first group of rats had no wheel access, the second continuous wheel access, and the third alternate-day wheel access. Rats without wheel access consumed large amounts of sucrose from the first day. Both groups with wheel access had similar, almost complete and long-lasting, suppressed sucrose consumption. The suppression occurred on both wheel and home cage days in the rats with alternate-day wheel exposure. This suggests that the unconditioned effect of running (whether "sickness" or some positive affect), when paired with a novel food, induces conditioned taste avoidance. CS pre-exposure has been shown to reduce conditioned taste avoidance, possibly through latent inhibition (Lubow & Moore, 1959; Lubow, 1989). The second experiment investigated the effect of alternate-day wheel access on consumption of a familiar sucrose solution (rats were given 10 days sucrose pre-exposure) in a similar design. The rats with continuous wheel access showed only a mild and short-lived suppression of the sucrose solution.

Convocation Year

2004

Convocation Season

Fall

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