Dopamine and Learned Food Preferences

Authors: Anthony Sclafani, Khalid Touzani, and Richard J. Bodnar.

Summary: A review of the relationship between dopamine and learned flavor preferences in light of the current obesity epidemic.

Question: What role does dopamine (DA) play in conditioned flavor preferences?

Past questions:

• Introduction
• Study 1
• Question(s):
• Does the sweet taste of a noncaloric saccharin solution stimulate DA release?
• Is this response altered in animals that developed a conditioned aversion to saccharin?
• Result(s):
• Intraoral infusions of saccharin stimulated nucleus accumbens (NAc) DA in naive rats, but the  same saccharin infusions significantly reduced DA release in rats previously conditioned to avoid the sweet solution by pairing it with lithium chloride (LiCl) injections.
• Conclusion(s):
• The NAc DA response is/was related to the positive reward quality of the saccharin solution, not to its sweet taste per se, or alternatively, its arousing properties.
• Study 2
• Question(s):
• Does a conditioned taste preference increase NAc DA release, i.e., would it have the opposite effect of a conditioned taste aversion.
• Method(s):
• Two Groups
• 20 hours/day training sessions
• Experimental Pairings
• Received IG Polycose infusions along with a bitter solution
• Received H₂O infusions along with a sour solution (citric acid)
• Control
• Received bitter and sour solutions sans IG infusions
• Result(s):
• Conclusion(s):
• Systemic Studies
• Central Studies



• Caption for figure 1 here...