Rats are often reluctant to consume novel tastes because they lack knowledge about the postingestive effects the new foods might have. This paper examines the effect of excitotoxic lesions and temporary inactivation of the perirhinal cortex (Prh), a key region in the recognition memory system, on taste neophobia and its attenuation. Using a two-bottle choice paradigm (saccharin vs water), excitotoxic lesions were found to disrupt taste neophobia to 0.3% and 0.5% saccharin. However, the lesions had no effect when using a concentration of 0.7%, which is qualitatively aversive (expt. 1a-1c). In a second series of experiments the same animals were able to acquire a flavor preference learning on the basis of a flavor-taste association. Lesioned and control rats showed, during a choice test, a clear preference for the flavor associated with saccharin (expt. 2a-2c). Finally, in a third series of experiments, Prh inactivation with lidocaine after trial 1 (expt. 3) and after trials 1-3 (expt. 4) delayed attenuation of the neophobia. These findings suggest that Prh lesions do not significantly affect taste processing/ perception. Prh thus appears to play an essential role in taste neophobia and its attenuation.

大鼠通常不愿食用新口味，因为它们对新食物可能具有的消极作用认识不足。本文研究了兴奋性毒性损害和识别记忆系统关键区域的周围神经皮层（Prh）的暂时失活对味觉恐惧症及其衰减的影响。使用两瓶选择范式（糖精与水），发现兴奋性毒性损害可将味道新恐惧症破坏为0.3％和0.5％糖精。但是，当使用浓度为0.7％（定性厌恶）的1％至1c的浓度时，病灶无效。在第二系列的实验中，相同的动物能够基于风味-味道关联获得风味偏好学习。病变大鼠和对照大鼠在选择测试中显示，糖精具有明显的风味（实验2a-2c）。最后，在第三系列实验中，在试验1（实验3）和试验1-3（实验4）之后，利多卡因使Prh失活延迟了新恐惧症的衰减。这些发现表明Prh损害不会显着影响味觉加工/知觉。因此，Prh在味觉恐惧症及其衰减中起着至关重要的作用。