The basolateral amygdala mediates the effects of cues associated with meal interruption on feeding behavior

Considerable evidence shows that environmental cues that signal food delivery when rats are food-deprived can substantially potentiate feeding later when rats are food-sated. Similarly, cues associated with meal interruption, food removal or impending food scarcity may also induce increased eating. For example, after learning the association between a discrete “interruption” stimulus and the unexpected termination of food trials, sated rats show enhanced food consumption when exposed to that stimulus. In Experiment 1, unlike sham-lesioned controls, rats with bilateral excitotoxic lesions of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) failed to display such cue-potentiated feeding. In Experiment 2, potentiation of feeding by an interruption signal was found to be food-specific. That is, a stimulus that signaled interruption of trials with one food but not trials with a second food later only facilitated consumption of the first food. These studies extend our knowledge of the psychological and neural processes underlying cue-induced feeding. Understanding these mechanisms may contribute our understanding of the etiology and treatment of binge eating disorders.