Intraoral infusions of sucrose or saccharin induce c-Fos-like immunoreactivity (c-FLI) in the intermediate nucleus of the solitary tract (iNTS) of rats after acquisition of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA). The induction of c-FLI in the iNTS may be a consequence of the shift in behavioral response from ingestive to aversive behaviors that characterize acquisition and expression of a CTA. To test this hypothesis, rats were intraorally infused with 0.3 mM quinine sulfate, an aversive taste, 1. prior to conditioning, 2. after 3 noncontingent (unpaired) infusions of quinine and toxic lithium chloride (LiCl) injections, 3. after conditioning with 3 contingent pairings of quinine and LiCl, and 4. after extinction with repeated unpaired infusions of quinine. Intraoral infusions of quinine induced c-FLI in the iNTS only after acquisition of a CTA against quinine; quinine failed to induce c-FLI in the iNTS of unconditioned, noncontingently treated, or extinguished rats. The pattern of c-FLI in the iNTS induced by expression of a CTA against quinine was quantitatively and anatomically similar to that elicited by sucrose in rats expressing a CTA against sucrose. We conclude that aversive responses per se are not sufficient to induce c-FLI in the iNTS. Furthermore, contingent pairing of quinine and LiCl does not cause a shift in behavioral response from palatable, ingestive behaviors to aversive behaviors as in acquisition of a CTA against sucrose. Thus, we also conclude that a shift in behavior from ingestive to aversive responses is not required for increased c-FLI expression in the iNTS during CTA expression. Therefore, the induction of c-FLI in the iNTS during expression of a CTA may be correlated with neuronal processes specific to acquisition and expression of a CTA. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.
