Temporal specificity of latent inhibition in rats with daily water restriction prior to taste conditioning

Abstract

Temporal specificity of latent inhibition of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) has been demonstrated after prolonged habituation to temporal contexts in the stages preceding conditioning, and it has been eliminated by restricting consumption during conditioning. However, it is not known if latent inhibition of CTA is still dependent on the temporal context when fluid consumption is limited in the stages prior to conditioning. We tested temporal specificity of latent inhibition in rats with (different time of day for the conditioning stage) and without (same time of day for pre‑exposure and conditioning stages) temporal changes on the conditioning day. All animals had limited access to water in the morning sessions of the stages prior to the conditioning day and 15 min of free access to fluid in the evening sessions of these stages. Compared to animals without temporal changes between stages, animals with a different temporal context during conditioning did not show evidence of latent inhibition. Unlike the effects observed after taste stimulus restrictions during conditioning, these results suggest that the temporal specificity of latent inhibition of CTA is not abolished when access to water is limited in the stages preceding conditioning.