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How Does Stomach Trouble Make Good Foods Revolting?
New research on taste aversion clarifies how a stomachache can turn a food from must-have to must-avoid.
The study, published in
eLife, involved conditioning rats to dislike the taste of sugar water, something they would normally enjoy, by creating a mild digestive discomfort after they consumed it.
A powerful memory forms when a pleasant taste is associated gastrointestinal pain, similar to an experience with food poisoning that results in an aversion to that food. Scientists have debated how the brain works in this process to form a long-lasting memory.