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Biomedical subjects

J Mendelson

Publications and source records attributed to J Mendelson.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1970

Tongue cooling: a new reward for thirsty rodents.

Thirsty rodents will persistently lick a stream of dry air pumped through a standard drinking tube. This air-licking is attenuated by experimental manipulations which reduce the evaporative cooling of the tongue and mouth produced by the airstream. This suggests that such cooling is itself an effective reward for thirstry rodents. We tested this hypothesis by presenting thirsty rodents with a piece of cold, dry metal. Different species spent from 9 to 40 percent of their session time licking the cold metal. When deprived of water hamsters reared from birth without access to drinking water licked cold metal in preference to metal maintained at room or body temperature. This preference was approximately equal to that of littermates reared normally. We conclude that tongue cooling is a primary reward for thirsty rodents.

Animals↗
PubMed1967

Lateral hypothalamic stimulation in satiated rats: the rewarding effects of self-induced drinking.

It is well known that thirsty rats will press a lever for water. The purpose of the present experiment was to demonstrate that, when water is freely available, nonthirsty rats will press a lever for thirst. Three satiated rats, bearing permanently implanted electrodes, were trained to press a lever which caused stimulation to be applied to an area of the lateral hypothalamus which induces thirst. The animals were tested with and without water available. Two of the rats pressed the lever to induce thirst only when water was available. Thus, thirst-inducing stimulation was not rewarding by itself, but only in combination with drinking.

Animals↗