GUSTATORY THALAMUS LESIONS IN THE RAT .1. INNATE TASTE PREFERENCES AND AVERSIONS

Two experiments examined the innate taste preferences and aversions of rats with electrolytic lesions of the gustatory thalamus (GT). Contra ry to previous research, GT lesions had only a minor influence on inta ke of the 4 basic tastes as assessed with the 24-hr, 2-bottle preferen ce test in Experiment 1. The same lesioned rats, when tested with the same stimuli in the 15-min, single-bottle procedure in Experiment 2, s howed normal consumption patterns except for sucrose intake, which was attenuated. The conflicting findings of previous and present research are considered to result from differences in lesion size. The current data suggest that the GT has a relatively minor functional role in th e unconditioned acceptance or rejection of sapid stimuli.