Olfactory and gustatory stimuli in food-aversion learning of rats

Two studies of food-aversion learning in the rat examined some crucial conditions for the potentiation of an odor component by a novel taste. Wistar rats were exposed twice to an odor-taste compound and then were treated either immediately or the next day with lithium chloride, a noxious substance. Immediately poisoned rats acquired an aversion to the odor component when it was paired with a familiar taste. Only in one experimental condition did some weak conditioning occur: when the new odor was presented together with a new taste. Thus, the classical phenomenon of overshadowing of the less salient odor component by the more salient taste was observed in all of our studies. This was true for situations in which the odor was presented near the drinking spout as well as for situations in which the odor was presented at some distance in front of the drinking source (Experiment 1). In addition, the weaker an odor component was, the more easily it was overshadowed by the taste (Experiment 2). All results fit well into classical rules of Pavlovian conditioning and fail to support the assumption that special mechanisms exist in food-related odor conditioning in rats.