Dissociation of licking and volume intake controls in rats ingesting glucose and maltodextrin

The volume of fluid that rats acquire with each lick was systematically varied across short-term tests with 12.5% glucose (Experiment 1) or 12.5% maltodextrin (Experiment 2). For glucose, rats increased the number of licks emitted as lick volume was reduced such that meal size remained remarkably stable across all (8, 4, and 2 microl) but the smallest (1 microl) lick volume conditions tested. Rats similarly compensated for lick volume reduction (8 to 4 microl) with maltodextrin by approximately doubling the number of licks emitted. Meal duration and a number of lick-microstructural parameters (initial ingestion rate, mean burst duration, terminal lick and ingestion rates, and burst duration) were not correlated with the intake outcome insofar as they varied significantly across conditions over which intake remained stable. Thus, in response to lick volume manipulation, rats demonstrated an impressive degree of behavioral flexibility in what may be regarded as a defense of meal size.