Sensitive Estimation of Flavor Preferences in STFP Using Cumulative Time Profiles.

Social transmission of food preference (STFP) is observed among rodents between a demonstrator and a naïve hungry observer. During social interaction, hungry observer receives information about safety of the food consumed by the demonstrator. This task has been implemented to develop a single trial non-aversive learning task in order to test hippocampus dependent non-spatial memory in rodents. In this protocol, we describe some novel modifications to the conventional STFP protocol and analysis for more sensitive estimation of change in preferences. Using this method, preference trends can be observed for weeks after training, allowing one to probe the role of systems consolidation (SC) in declarative memory that is relatively independent of spatial navigation.