Salt seeking by food selection in adrenalectomized rats.

Investigated the generality of salt-seeking behavior in 2 experiments with 12 sham-operated and 9 adrenalectomized male albino Dublin strain rats. Under diets which differed in salt content, the adrenalectomized Ss selected salty over plain food. Where the salt concentration was 3% or greater, the adrenalectomized Ss maintained body weight and showed no adverse symptoms. Contrary to previous theories, results demonstrate that when salt is available in food, rats do seek out and can consume NaCl in sufficient quantities to maintain sodium levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)