Conditioned feeding suppression in rats produced by cross-coupled and simple motions.

Conditioned feeding suppression was produced in rats by earth-vertical rotation, seesaw acceleration, and cross-coupled accelerations. Rats were exposed to 15 min of motion immediately after eating a sweet, novel food. The effects of this motion were assessed by measuring consumption of sweet food during a second feeding session that was 72 hr after exposure to motion Exposure to cross-coupled accelerations produced the greatest conditioned suppression of feeding. Progressively less suppression resulted from exposure to seesaw acceleration and to rotation. This ordering of suppression effects is consistent with the amount of vestibular stimulation produced by these motions. These results indicate that conditioned feeding suppression in rats can be produced by vestibular stimulation of a duration known to produce frank motion sickness in other animals and man.