The role of the insular cortex in taste function

► Rats lesioned bilaterally in the insular cortex (IC) with ibotenic acid before CTA showed significant learning impairments for preferred saccharin 0.1% but not for non-preferred saccharin 0.5%. ► Rats IC lesioned a week after CTA training became completely amnesic for saccharin 0.1% yet only mildly impaired for saccharin 0.5%. ► IC lesioned rats when exposed to saccharin 0.1% and 0.5% for the first time showed a decrease in neophobia for either solution. ► The taste preference obtained after IC lesions performed post CTA and before first taste exposure for either saccharin solution matched, suggesting that the lesion induced amnesia for both solutions, leading to the original taste preference. ► IC lesioned rats showed a comparable decrease in neophobia irrespective of how preferred the solution was originally.