Ingestive behaviors of rats with electrolytic median raphe lesions maintained on a food deprivation schedule.

The current study examines the effects of electrolytic median raphe lesions on the feeding and drinking behaviors of rats maintained on a 23-hr food deprivation schedule. Measurement of food intake during the feeding period indicated no difference between the two groups but lesioned animals showed significantly more spillage than controls. Furthermore, measurement of water intakes indicated that median raphe lesioned rats consume significantly less water than controls in the absence of food and come to ingest virtually all of their daily fluid intake during the feeding period. Additionally, rats with lesions of this nucleus take significantly more drinks during the feeding period, often punctuating their meal with short draughts. Since similar behaviors are seen following the destruction of certain hypothalamic and limbic nuclei anatomically related to the median raphe, it is possible that these syndromes share an anatomical basis.