Taste aversion learning: A contemporary perspective

Food aversion learning has attracted widespread interest because it is a hi ghly adaptive, powerful type of learning with both practical and theoretica l ramifications. It has features that make, it unusual and robust when comp ared with other learning paradigms. It has relevance to human problems in t hat it is likely to contribute to food choice and appetite problems in cert ain clinical situations. And the robustness of this learning makes it a pro mising model for neurobiologists interested in understanding neural mechani sms of plasticity. This review provides a broad overview of these aspects o f taste aversion learning and points to areas where questions remain and ad ditional research is needed. Nutrition 1999;15:229-234. (C)Elsevier Science Inc. 1999.