Age Differences in the Effects of Palatability of Diet on Regulation of Calorie Intake and Body Weight of Rats

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Abstract
Is there an age-related decrement in the regulation of calorie intake? The results of Experiment I indicated that there was an age-related decrement in calorie intake and body weight of rats in response to dilution of their diet with non-nutritive cellulose. Was this decrement due to an age-related increase in reactivity to the sensory and hedonic aspects of the adulterated diet? The results of Experiment II indicated that older rats maintained their calorie intake and body weight as well as younger rats in response to dilution of their diet with water but decreased their calorie intake and body weight to a greater degree than younger rats when the water-diet mixture was adulterated by quinine. The results of these experiments suggest that the regulation of calorie intake remains intact over a large segment of the life of the rat, but can be overridden by age-related increases in reactivity to the sensory and hedonic aspects of the diet.