The effect of postconditioning CS experience on recovery from radiation-induced taste aversion

Seventy-two hours after saccharin (CS) was paired with either a 100R or sham radiation exposure, rats received a 0-, 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, or 46-hour saccharin-alone presentation followed by a 23-hour two-bottle preference test. Generally, faster recovery from the aversion was observed in animals receiving longer CS-alone presentations. The present procedure differs from previous work done with other toxins in that animals were not fluid-deprived during the postconditioning period. This enabled animals to constantly control the volume, duration, and inter-bout interval of the saccharin drinking episodes independent of any experimentally imposed drinking schedule. In addition, the two-bottle test provided a sensitive measure of the status of the saccharin aversion following the saccharin-alone presentation.