Elsevier

Physiology & Behavior

Volume 32, Issue 3, March 1984, Pages 369-374
Physiology & Behavior

Feeding rate and meal patterns in the laboratory rat

https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(84)90249-XGet rights and content

Abstract

Many manipulations used in the study of feeding (e.g., changes of food taste or texture, anorectic drugs) affect the rate of food consumption. Consequent changes in meal patterning might reflect either direct effects of the manipulation or alternatively might result from indirect effects of the changed rate of intake. In the experiment reported here a direct reduction in the permitted rate of food intake resulted in a clear reduction of meal size and an increase in meal frequency in rats. We explore the extent to which this finding is predicted by quantitative models of the regulation of food intake.

References (21)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (35)

  • A new apparatus to analyze meal-related ingestive behaviors in rats fed a complex multi-food diet

    2022, Physiology and Behavior
    Citation Excerpt :

    It is sometimes used to infer palatability of the diet, given that it tends to increase with concentration and correlates with other hedonic behaviors. Using this measure to make any conclusions about palatability of solid foods is sometimes difficult, though, as rate of consumption is also dependent on physical qualities of the food (and difficulty in consuming it), and any physical manipulations of the study that might have limited the ability of the animal to eat such as disruptions in salivation or motor capabilities or alterations in gut anatomy such as bariatric surgery [20,87,95–97]. Meal size and eating rate together result in a meal duration – the amount of time that an animal spends eating before pausing.

  • Animal models to explore the effects of CNS drugs on food intake and energy expenditure

    2012, Neuropharmacology
    Citation Excerpt :

    However it is also important to be aware that spontaneous meal patterns are also very flexible at the behavioural level and that alterations in food availability will lead to substantial changes in meal patterns, usually in such a way as to minimise the effort of obtaining food. Such effects are especially apparent when food is obtained using an operant schedule in a closed economy (e.g. Clifton et al., 1984). Access to liquid foods is typically provided in relatively short experimental sessions and analysis is carried out to the level of individual licks directed at the spout at which the diet is provided.

  • Effect of a lipid-enriched diet on body composition and some regulatory hormones of food intake in growing rats

    2007, Annales d'Endocrinologie
    Citation Excerpt :

    The main question arising from these data concerns the reason why the lipid-enriched diet has an inhibiting effect on food intake, knowing that in such a study, rats given low-fat foods eat the greatest quantity of food but those fed high-fat foods have the highest energy intake [16]. Such an effect has already been reported and it is possibly related to digestibility and texture [12,31]. In our case, the reconstituted pellets had the same aspect, texture and dominant fish smell as the standard chow, since the milk powder and vegetable oil added had neutral effect on smell.

View all citing articles on Scopus

Ethology and Neurophysiology Group

View full text