(Springer, 2023-01-05) Labajos López, María José; Calcagni, Gianluca; Pellón Suárez de Puga, Ricardo
The objective of this study was to evaluate the possible relationship between drinking (licks) in the schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) phenomenon and running (turns in the wheel) in the activity-based anorexia (ABA) one. Within-subjects counterbalanced experiments were designed with male Wistar rats which underwent both behavioral procedures; half of them performed the ABA procedure frst and the other half the SIP procedure frst. In Experiment 1, the initial development of ABA facilitated the subsequent acquisition of SIP, whereas the frst acquisition of SIP retarded the subsequent development of ABA. Given that SIP exposure implied food restriction, it could be that adaptation to the food regime contributed to lowering ABA manifestation. Thus, Experiment 2 was carried out in exactly the same way as Experiment 1, with the exception that animals which frst went through SIP prior to undergoing the ABA procedure had no food restriction. In this case, both ABA and SIP as frst experiences facilitated the further development of SIP and ABA, respectively. This suggests that running in ABA may be functionally similar to drinking in SIP; therefore, both behaviors can be thought of as induced by the schedule/regime of intermittent food availability.
