Extended Pavlovian conditioned approach training and devaluation in Long-Evans rats using time-restricted feeding

Extended Pavlovian conditioned approach training in male and female Long-Evans rats under time-restricted feeding increases the proportion of sign-trackers and preserves satiety sensitivity.

• Why it matters: Food deprivation used in PCA can elevate stress and potentially bias animals toward sign-tracking, while most analyses miss behaviors beyond lever pressing and food-cup entry.
• What they did: Rats received extended PCA training, then satiety-induced reward devaluation under time-restricted feeding; researchers expanded behavioral scoring beyond lever pressing and food-cup entry.
• The result: Under TRF, rats gained weight across PCA training and maintained caloric intake relative to ad libitum, and all rats showed sensitivity to satiety-induced reward devaluation regardless of sex or devaluation condition.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.