Discriminative control of hyperdipsic drinking in the baboon.

A baboon subject was surgically prepared with an arterial catheter and subsequently trained to elevate diastolic blood pressure with an operant schedule of food procurement and shock avoidance with associated discriminative stimuli. Blood pressure elevations developed in accordance with the requirements of the conditioning procedure. In addition, large-scale increases in water intake occurred on days when the conditioning sessions were in effect. Both blood pressure and water intake elevations were maintained when the conditioning procedure was changed to eliminate food reinforcement. Electrical monitoring of water spout contacts revealed that drinking occurred exclusively during response-produced SDS associated with food delivery, and did not occur either during response-produced SDS associated with electric shock, or during intertrial intervals. Because acute elevations in blood pressure preceded licking bouts, the drinking was not producing the pressor episodes. Overall, the data illustrate that drinking can occur in a systematic manner under the control of exteroceptive discriminative stimuli during non-skeletal response contingencies.