Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Simultaneous Detection of c-Fos Activation from Mesolimbic and Mesocortical Dopamine Reward Sites Following Naive Sugar and Fat Ingestion in Rats
Published on: August 24, 2016
Brain regions responsible for the expression of conditioned taste aversion in rats
1Department of Behavioral Physiology, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, 1-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. yamamoto@hus.osaka-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is acquired when the ingestion of a food is followed by malaise. CTA is a kind of fear learning making animals avoid subsequent intake of the food and show aversive behavior to the taste of the food. To elucidate the brain regions responsible for the expression of CTA, our previous electrophysiological and recent c-fos immunohistochemical studies have been reviewed. Among a variety of brain regions including the parabrachial nucleus, amygdala, insular cortex, supramammillary nucleus, nucleus accumbens, and ventral pallidum that are involved in different phases of CTA expression, the enhanced taste sensitivity to facilitate detection of the conditioned stimulus may originate in the central nucleus of the amygdala and the hedonic shift, from positive to negative, may originate in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala.
Related Concept Videos
Conditioned Taste Aversion
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single exposure...
The Physiology of Taste
Gustation
