The relation of feeding and activity following septal lesions in rats.

The patterns of intake of liquid diet and water were recorded in diet-deprived rats with septal lesions and neurologically intact controls during the first hour of diet access. The occurrences of grooming, resting/sleeping, and exploring were also recorded. Both groups of rats consumed similar amounts of diet in one meal during the 1-hr diet access period. Control rats consumed the meal in one prolonged bout of eating, whereas rats with septal lesions consumed the meal in numerous small bouts of eating. Rats with septal lesions were active for longer periods, exhibiting continuous alternation of brief bouts of eating, drinking, exploring, and resting throughout the meal. In tests in which water was not available during the diet access period, both groups of rats increased their intrameal bout size, but rats with septal lesions still showed much smaller bouts of ingestion than did controls. These data suggest that the small-bout pattern of ingestion may reflect a general disruption in the control of behavioral sequences, rather than processes uniquely related to the regulation of eating or drinking.