Open AccessSeeking behavior, place conditioning, and resistance to conditioned suppression of feeding in rats intermittently exposed to palatable food.
Author(s) -
Clara Velázquez-Sánchez,
Jeffrey Santos,
Karen Smith,
Antonio Ferragud,
Valentina Sabino,
Pietro Cottone
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
behavioral neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1939-0084
pISSN - 0735-7044
DOI - 10.1037/bne0000042
Subject(s) - reinforcement , psychology , conditioned place preference , conditioning , addiction , punishment (psychology) , developmental psychology , food intake , overeating , classical conditioning , endocrinology , neuroscience , medicine , obesity , social psychology , statistics , mathematics
Binge eating disorder is characterized by excessive consumption of highly palatable food within short periods of time accompanied by loss of control over eating. Extensive evidence provides support for the consideration of binge eating disorder as an addiction-like disorder. In this study, we wanted to determine whether rats undergoing an operant binge-like eating procedure could develop maladaptive forms of conditioned feeding behaviors. For this purpose, we trained male rats to self-administer either a sugary, highly palatable diet ("Palatable" rats) or a chow diet ("Chow" rats) for 1 hour a day. After escalation and stabilization of palatable food intake, we tested Chow and Palatable rats in (a) a conditioned place preference test, (b) a second-order schedule of reinforcement, (c) a cue-induced suppression of feeding test. In the conditioned place preference task, Palatable rats spent significantly more time in the compartment that was previously paired with the palatable food, compared to Chow controls. Furthermore, in the second-order schedule of reinforcement task, Palatable rats exhibited active lever responding 4- to 6-fold higher than Chow control rats. Finally, in the cue-induced suppression of feeding test, although Chow control subjects reduced responding by 32% in the presence of the conditioned punishment, Palatable rats persevered in responding despite the aversive cue. These results further characterize this animal model of binge-like eating and provide additional evidence for the addictive properties of highly palatable food.