Brief preoperative exposure to saline protects rats against behavioral impairments in salt appetite following central gustatory damage.

Adult rats who receive large electrolytic lesions at the level of the thalamic taste relay display impairments in taste related behavior, specifically the appetite for salt that results from changes in sodium balance. However, if the rats are given preoperative experience of ingesting a salty taste they are protected against these impairments in salt appetite that result from the lesion. In the present study we found that a brief (30 s) preoperative exposure to saline is sufficient to protect adult rats against expected deficits in salt appetite that normally result from central gustatory damage at the level of the thalamic taste relay. It is becoming increasingly clear that preoperative events can lessen the severity of the effects of brain damage. The results are discussed in the context of the appetite for salt, and preoperative immunization from behavioral deficits that result from brain damage.