Chin rub CRs may reflect conditioned sickness elicited by a lithium-paired sucrose solution

Rats were given a single conditioning trial in which 20% sucrose solution was paired with an intraperitoneal (IP) injection of lithium chloride (127.2 mg/kg), d-amphetamine (3 mg/kg) or physiological saline. Thirty min before a subsequent 10-min taste reactivity (TR) test and a 1-h conditioned taste avoidance (CTA) test the rats were injected IP with either the antiemetic agent, trimethobenzamide (5 mg/kg) [corrected] or with physiological saline solution. The lithium-paired, but not the amphetamine- or saline-paired, sucrose solution elicited the aversive TR responses of chin rubs, paw pushes and gapes. Trimethobenzamide suppressed the aversive TR response of chin rubs in the lithium-conditioned group, but not in a group given unconditionally aversive quinine solution. The CTA test was not sensitive to the antiemetic properties of trimethobenzamide, although the drug enhanced sucrose preference overall. The results suggest that chin rub responses may measure conditioned sickness.