Effects of pimozide on the hedonic properties of sucrose: analysis by the taste reactivity test.

The ability of the neuroleptic agent, pimozide, to modify sucrose palatability was assessed using three 10-min taste reactivity test sessions. Pimozide was found to suppress the ingestive response of tongue protrusions, but enhance the mildly ingestive/neutral response of mouth movements elicited by an intraoral infusion of sucrose solution. Since the pattern of taste reactivity responding shifted from highly ingestive to mildly ingestive/neutral, our results suggest that pimozide pretreatment reduces the palatability of sucrose solution. The temporal pattern of the modification of these taste reactivity responses was predicted by the Anhedonia Hypothesis.