Undernutrition of weanling and adult rats: effects on operant responding.

In the rat, brain growth is most vulnerable to undernutrition during the suckling period. Undernutrition at that stage also produces lasting effects on behaviour and it is often assumed that these are due to disturbances of brain growth. The proposal that this may not necessarily be so was explored by testing the behaviour of rats which had been undernourished at later stages of life and which, therefore, would be expected to show little or no deficit in brain growth. Rats were undernourished either immediately after weaning (25-67 days) or in adulthood (80-134 days) and were tested 3-4 months later on variable interval and variable ratio schedules of reinforcement with food as the reward. Their behaviour on these schedules was similar to that of rats undernourished during the suckling period: both groups responded or tended to respond at a higher rate than controls. Hence, it is possible that undernutrition at any stage in life may make animals more responsive to food when deprived subsequently. A cognitive mechanism for this change in behaviour is suggested.