Taste preference of Old World monkeys: I. A single-bottle preference test

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(94)90103-1

Physiology & Behavior

Volume 55, Issue 3, March 1994, Pages 477-481

https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(94)90103-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

There have been relatively few published reports of the taste preferences of nonhuman primates due, in part, to the expense and relative difficulty associated with maintaining a large group of these animals. The present report describes a version of the single-bottle preference test that can be used effectively with small groups of macaque monkeys. Experiment 1 determined the optimal durations for the pretest water deprivation period, the test trial itself, and the posttest rehydration period. Experiment 2 used this procedure to examine intake of the four prototypical gustatory stimuli. The results showed that cynomolgus monkeys, like other species, accept solutions containing sucrose and isotomic saline and reject those containing quinine hydrochloride. Unlike most other species, however, these monkeys do not find moderate concentrations of hydrochloric acid aversive.

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The conditioned taste aversion (CTA) threshold for either citric acid (CA) or HCl solutions and the two-bottle taste preference (TBP) threshold were determined in rats that are familiarized to the odor of conditioning solutions or that are naive. The CTA method appeared to be more sensitive than the TBP test, particularly when rats were not familiarized to the odor of the conditioning solution. The CTA threshold for HCl-conditioned rats and familiarized to the odor of conditioning solution lies between 1.00 and 2.00 mmol; in unconditioned rats, it lies between 4.00 and 5.00 mmol. In CA-conditioned and odor-familiarized rats, the threshold lies between 0.09 and 0.20 mmol; in unconditioned rats, it lies between 7.00 and 10.00 mmol. In rats not familiarized to the odor of the conditioning solution, the threshold for HCl-conditioned rats lies between 0.90 and 1.00 mmol; in unconditioned rats, it lies between 2.00 and 3.00 mmol. In CA-conditioned rats, the CTA threshold lies between 0.03 and 0.05 mmol; in unconditioned rats, it lies between 4.00 and 7.00 mmol. The two-bottle test is less sensitive than the CTA method. The TBP threshold lies between HCl 4.00 and 5.00 mmol, and between CA 4.00 and 7.00 mmol. The odor of a solution may potentiate the ability of rats to detect the concentration of CA and HCl solutions.
Comparative expression of hedonic impact: Affective reactions to taste by human infants and other primates
2001, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
This study examines behavioral affective reactions elicited by tastes from eight newborn human infants, and from 27 other infant or adult primates. Non-human primates belonged to 11 species: three great apes (chimpanzee, orangutan, gorilla), three Old World monkeys (rhesus monkey, greater spot-nosed monkey, and red-capped mangabey), four New World monkeys (golden-handed tamarin, cotton-top tamarin, white tufted-ear marmoset, and Humboldt's night monkey), and one lemur (mongoose lemur). The taste of sucrose elicited homologous positive hedonic patterns of facial affective reactions from humans and other primates, whereas quinine elicited homologous aversive or negative affective patterns. The degree of similarity between human and other primate affective reaction patterns appeared to be strongly indicative of their phylogenetic relatedness. For example, affective reaction patterns of human infants and great apes were more similar to each other than either were to Old World monkeys or New World monkeys. Certain affective reaction components were found to be shared by humans and all primates, whereas other components were restricted to particular taxonomic groups. Finally, allometric timing parameters for the duration of components indicated that the ‘same’ affective reaction could have different durations in species of different size. These results show that both positive/negative valence and intensity of affective reaction may be quantitatively assessed in human and non-human primates, and indicate that taste-elicited affective reaction patterns of human infants are related systematically to those of other primate species.
Gustatory responsiveness to food-associated sugars and acids in pigtail macaques, Macaca nemestrina
2000, Physiology and Behavior
Taste-preference thresholds for five food-associated sugars and acids, respectively, as well as relative sweet-taste preferences were assessed in six pigtail macaques using two-bottle choice tests of brief duration (1 min). In experiment 1, the animals were found to significantly prefer concentrations as low as 10 mM maltose and sucrose, 20 mM fructose and glucose, and 30 mM lactose over tap water. In experiment 2, the monkeys were given a choice between all binary combinations of the same five saccharides presented in equimolar concentrations of 50, 100, 200, and 400 mM. Preferences for individual sugars were stable across the concentrations tested and indicate the following order of relative effectiveness: maltose>sucrose>glucose≥fructose≥lactose. In experiment 3, Macaca nemestrina was found to significantly discriminate concentrations as low as 5 mM malic acid, 10 mM ascorbic acid, 20 mM citric acid and acetic acid, and 0.5 mM tannic acid from the alternative stimulus. With the latter substance, the monkeys rejected all suprathreshold concentrations tested, whereas with the former four substances, the animals showed an inverted U-shaped function of preference.
The results showed pigtail macaques to be the first primate species tested so far whose taste-preference threshold for maltose is as low as that for sucrose, and which — similar to rodents — prefers maltose over equimolar concentrations of sucrose and other saccharides. Further, unlike most other primates, pigtail macaques do not generally reject acidic tastants but show a substance- and concentration-dependent change in their behavioral response that may range from rejection to preference. The results support the assumption that the gustatory responsiveness of M. nemestrina to food-associated sugars and acidic tastants might reflect an evolutionary adaptation to its dietary habits.
Linking gustatory neurobiology to behavior in vertebrates
2000, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
Technological advances in neuroscience in general, and molecular biology in particular, offer tremendous experimental opportunities for researchers studying the vertebrate gustatory system. Ultimately, however, the neurobiological events must be linked to the taste-related behavior of the animal. Although there has been some promising work in this regard, progress has been hampered by an absence of a unified theoretical framework regarding function, unconfirmed assumptions inherent in many experimental designs, and a misguided predilection for researchers to interpret results from a variety of vertebrate models in the context of human psychophysics. This review article offers a heuristic for the organization of taste function and encourages greater coordination between behavioral and neurobiological approaches to the problem of understanding gustatory processes in the nervous system. The potential power of such coordinated efforts is discussed as well as the possible interpretive pitfalls associated with the neural analysis of gustation.
The effect of thalamic lesions on primate taste preference
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Taste preferences and aversions were examined before and after the placement of bilateral, electrophysiologically guided electrolytic lesions of the thalamic taste area in five Old World monkeys. The only consistent changes shown by all lesioned monkeys on the 30-min, single-bottle intake test were a significantly attenuated consumption of 0.003 M quinine hydrochloride and a significantly elevated intake of 0.1 M sodium chloride. These specific taste deficits are contrary to the global hypogeusia predicted on the basis of previous research. A revised definition of the boundaries of the gustatory thalamus is suggested and the merits of the thalamic monkey preparation are compared with those of the decerebrate rat model.
Establishing Meal Patterns by Lickometry in the Marmoset Monkey (Callithrix jacchus): Translational Applications From the Bench to the Field and the Clinic
2012, American Journal of Primatology

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ArticleTaste preference of Old World monkeys: I. A single-bottle preference test

Abstract

Physiol. Behav.

Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev

Physiol. Behav.

Physiol. Behav.

Glucose preference in the guinea pig

Physiol. Behav.

Relative per diem consumption as a measure of preference in the rat

J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol.

Relation of consummatory responses and preabsorptive insulin release to palatability and learned taste aversions

J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol.

Postingestive modulation of the sweetness preference gradient of the rat

J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol.

The gustatory neocortex of the rat

Physiol. Psychol.

Taste of sugars: Brief exposure single-stimulus behavioral method

J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol.

A model for the control of ingestion

Psychol. Rev.

Blood glucose selectively affects taste-evoked activity in the rat nucleus tractus solitarius

Physiol. Behav.

Evaluating taste effects on ingestive behavior

Assessing gustatory detection capabilities using preference procedures

Chem. Senses

Some physical, metabolic and sensory components in the appetite for glucose

Am. J. Physiol.

Article
Taste preference of Old World monkeys: I. A single-bottle preference test