Is blockade of conditioned flavor aversions by chlorpheniramine the result of state dependency?

• Published in: Behavioral and neural biology Vol. 54; no. 1; p. 56
• Main Author: Green, K F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.07.1990
• Subjects: Animals; Association Learning - drug effects; Avoidance Learning - drug effects; Brain Stem - drug effects; Chemoreceptor Cells - drug effects; Chlorpheniramine - pharmacology; Conditioning, Classical - drug effects; Female; Learning - drug effects; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Taste - drug effects; Vagus Nerve - drug effects
• ISSN: 0163-1047
• DOI: 10.1016/0163-1047(90)91241-3

Conditioned flavor aversions induced by pairing flavored fluids with ionizing irradiation, lithium chloride, estrogen, or centrifugal rotation have been blocked by prior administration of chlorpheniramine. The blockade may be due to state dependency. This possibility was evaluated in the present experiment, which assigned female Long-Evans rats to a factorial combination of chlorpheniramine (20 mg/kg) vs saline during training, centrifugal rotation (150 rpm for 15 min) vs none as an UCS, and chlorpheniramine vs saline in testing. Rats conditioned with saline and rotation showed strong aversions when tested with either same or chlorpheniramine. Rats conditioned with chlorpheniramine and rotation showed no change during conditioning; when tested with saline they showed no aversion, and when tested with chlorpheniramine they showed no change from conditioning. Rats conditioned with either chlorpheniramine or saline and no rotation showed high fluid intake when tested with saline and reduced fluid intake when tested with chlorpheniramine. The results were interpreted as offering little support for state dependency.