Palatable daily meals entrain anticipatory activity rhythms in free-feeding rats: dependence on meal size and nutrient content

Circadian wheel-running rhythms were monitored continuously in 3 groups of female Sprague-Dawley rats under different palatable food availability schedules. All rats had free access to standard rat chow and water throughout the study. In addition, Group 1 rats received a palatable nutrient-rich mash for 2 hr each day for 28 days, beginning 3 hr after light onset of a 12:12 LD cycle. Group 2 rats received the same mash but were limited to 4 g daily. Group 3 rats received a palatable non-nutritive mash. Ten of 13 Group 1 rats, 2 of 13 Group 2 rats, and 0 of 13 Group 3 rats showed anticipatory running prior to the daily palatable meal. Palatable mash intake was generally lower among Group 3 rats than among Group 1 rats. However, several Group 3 rats consumed non-nutritive mash in amounts which equalled or exceeded the nutritive mash intake of Group 1 rats showing anticipatory running. The results indicate that temporally limited daily access to a palatable food can entrain anticipatory wheel-running in rats that are not food-deprived. They also indicate that entrainment to periodic food availability depends on stimuli associated with the concentrated intake of nutrients rather than on the absolute size or palatability of a meal.