Abstract
ZOTTERMAN1 and his co-workers have reported that in the rat and in man the taste of water consists in a reduction of the spontaneous firing of the salt receptors. According to Deutsch's theory2 of need and reward, satiation of thirst is due to the reception of a certain quantity of messages signalling the ingestion of water. The quantity of fluid ingested would be proportionate to the number of signals generated by it. It follows that as a hypotonic solution of saline reduces the spontaneous firing of salt receptors less than the same volume of water, it would generate less of a ‘water signal’. A rat should therefore drink more saline solution even when water is present. This has already been noted by workers such as Richter3 and Bare4 and ascribed to a preference for weak saline solutions. But if the above hypothesis is correct, the ingestion of saline by the rat is not due to a preference but to the fact that it has been given ‘diluted water’, if we can put it that way.
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References
Zotterman, Y., Nature, 183, 191 (1959).
Deutsch, J. A., Brit. J. Psychol., 47, 115 (1956); 44, 304 (1953).
Richter, C. P., Amer. J. Physiol., 115, 155 (1936).
Bare, J. K., J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol., 42, 242 (1949).
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DEUTSCH, J., JONES, A. The Water–Salt Receptor and Preference in the Rat. Nature 183, 1472 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1831472a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1831472a0
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