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Stability of individual differences in sucralose taste preference
Sam Z Bacharach1,2, Donna J Calu1,2
1Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Plos One
|May 16, 2019
Summary
Rats show consistent individual differences in preferring or avoiding bittersweet solutions like sucralose and sucrose/quinine mixtures. This taste preference reliability suggests a stable underlying mechanism for processing appetitive-aversive conflicts in motivated behavior.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Science
- Sensory Science
Background:
- Individual variability in motivation and reward processing is linked to disorders.
- Understanding appetitive-aversive conflict processing is crucial for studying motivated behaviors.
- Taste preferences, particularly for bittersweet solutions, can reflect individual differences in conflict processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the test-retest stability and between-tastant consistency of bittersweet taste preference in rats.
- To determine the reliability of using bittersweet taste preference as a screening procedure for individual differences in motivated behavior.
- To investigate if sucralose preference is consistent with preferences for a sucrose/quinine solution.
Main Methods:
- A two-bottle choice homecage procedure was used with fluid-restricted rats.
- Rats were exposed to ascending concentrations of sucralose (SUCRA) or a sucrose/quinine (SQ) solution against water.
- A within-subject counterbalanced design assessed preference for each bittersweet solution relative to water.
Main Results:
- Significant individual variability was observed, with rats either preferring or avoiding bittersweet solutions.
- Preference for each tastant (SUCRA or SQ) remained stable across repeated testing.
- Sucralose preference scores correlated with sucrose/quinine scores, indicating consistent taste conflict processing across different bittersweet solutions.
Conclusions:
- Bittersweet taste preference in rats is reliable, showing both test-retest stability and consistency between different tastants.
- This taste conflict screening procedure demonstrates potential utility for modeling individual differences in appetitive-aversive conflict processing.
- Findings support the use of this model for exploring the neurobiological underpinnings of motivated behavior and its disorders.
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