Postirradiation saccharin avoidance in rats as a function of the interval between ingestion and exposure.

Abstract

4 groups of 10 rats were subjected to delay periods of 3, 60, 120, and 180 min between cessation of saccharin ingestion and onset of X-irradiation. 4 similar groups were sham-irradiated and 4 had no fluid prior to irradiation. Observations for 24 posttreatment days with a choice of water and saccharin revealed no significant differences among experimental groups. The irradiated control groups evidenced significant avoidance behavior for 4 days. It was concluded that saccharin avoidance conditioning does not fall within the classical conditioning paradigm and other factors are needed to account for the avoidance behavior of the irradiated controls.