Context Properties Modulate Flavor Neophobia Habituation

One issue that has received relatively little attention in the analyses of the neophobic responses to a novel flavor is the influence of the context in which the flavor is first encountered, along with the effect of this context on the habituation of neophobia when the flavor is repeatedly consumed. Considering the predictions of the Contextual Safety Hypothesis, which proposes that the previous appetitive or aversive history of the context will modulate the intensity of neophobia and its habituation, we designed an experiment to evaluate the role played by the context in neophobia and its habituation to a new flavor.

Male Wistar rats had access to a new flavor solution (0.1% sacharin) in presence of a context previously submitted to a treatment intended to turn it into appetitive, aversive or merely familiar. An additional group of rats received the new flavor in their home cages.

After four days of saccharin exposure, those animals in the Appetitive and Home conditions showed significant faster neophobia habituation as compared to those in the Aversive and Familiar groups.

These results revealed the potential applied value of using contextual manipulations to promote healthy eating behavior both in animals and humans.