Moe K E
Dev Psychobiol. 1986 May;19(3):185-96. doi: 10.1002/dev.420190305.
Many mammals eat salt irrespective of need. This behavior, called salt preference or appetite, is studied primarily in adults. Little is known about its ontogeny. In these experiments, 3-18-day-old rat pups were offered saline, quinine, or ammonium chloride solutions by infusion through an anterior oral catheter, and intake was measured. At 6-18 days, pups showed the inverted U-shaped preference-aversion curve for NaCl that is characteristic of adult rats. Thus, rats express a preference for salt at a very early age. However, the curves were broader than the typical adult curve and were shifted along the concentration gradient in an age-related fashion. Consumption of quinine and ammonium chloride showed similar age-related changes. These changes may reflect the postnatal timing of the development of the rat gustatory system.
许多哺乳动物会不顾自身需求而摄入盐分。这种行为被称为盐偏好或盐食欲，主要是在成年动物中进行研究。对于其个体发生过程，人们了解甚少。在这些实验中，通过经口腔前部导管灌注的方式，为3至18日龄的幼鼠提供生理盐水、奎宁或氯化铵溶液，并测量其摄入量。在6至18日龄时，幼鼠表现出成年大鼠特有的对氯化钠的倒U形偏好-厌恶曲线。因此，大鼠在非常年幼的时候就表现出对盐的偏好。然而，这些曲线比典型的成年曲线更宽，并且沿着浓度梯度以与年龄相关的方式发生偏移。奎宁和氯化铵的消耗量也呈现出类似的与年龄相关的变化。这些变化可能反映了大鼠味觉系统发育的出生后时间进程。
