Abstract
Female rats with lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) overate and gained more body weight than same-diet control rats, following extended maintenance on a ground-chow diet adulterated with an equal weight of cellulose. Adulteration with cellulose clearly decreased diet palatability, because control rats fed the cellulose-adulterated diet ate and weighed less than control rats fed the unadulterated ground-chow diet. The overeating of a less palatable diet by VMH rats is consistent with the hypothesis that VMH lesions increase hunger motivation.
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This report is based on a thesis submitted by Paul J. Wellman to Iowa State University. Portions of this paper were presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, 1978.
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Wellman, P.J., Peters, R.H. Effects of cellulose adulteration on maintenance-feeding behavior in rats with VMH lesions. Psychobiology 6, 493–496 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326755
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326755