Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Fat Preference: A Novel Model of Eating Behavior in Rats
Published on: June 27, 2014
Uncontrollable chronic stress affects eating behavior in rats
Marina Liliana González-Torres1, Cristiano Valerio Dos Santos2
1a Department of psychology , Autonomus University of Aguascalientes , Aguascalientes , México.
Abstract:
The issue of whether the decrease in food intake induced by inescapable shock is due to the uncontrollability of the stressor or the shock per se has not yet been settled. Besides, whether food intake is differentially affected by an uncontrollable chronic stressor has been explored only by a few studies. Thus, we evaluated the effects of chronic escapable or inescapable electric shocks on eating behavior. Rats were exposed to shock sessions for 20 days in two occasions separated by baseline sessions with no shock in an ABAB design. Results showed a reduction in food and water intake and body weight gain during stress periods, especially with inescapable shocks. The findings support a close link between learned helplessness, chronic stress, and eating behavior.
Related Concept Videos
Binge Eating Disorders
What is Behavior?
Responses to Salt Stress
Responses to Heat and Cold Stress
General State of Stress
Specifically, consider a tetrahedral element where one face, labeled XYZ, is perpendicular to the line OA, and the remaining faces align with the coordinate axes with point O as the origin. At any point, such as point O, the stress tensor can be used to determine the stress...
Stress

