Modulatory effect of ionizing radiation on food-NaCl associative learning; The Role of
subunit of G protein in 
Sakashita, Tetsuya; Hamada, Nobuyuki*; Ikeda, Daisuke*; Yanase, Sumino*; Suzuki, Michiyo; Ishii, Naoaki*; Kobayashi, Yasuhiko
We analyzed the effects of ionizing radiation (IR) on a food-NaCl associative learning paradigm of adult
, and observed that a decrease in chemotaxis toward NaCl occurs only after combined starvation and exposure to NaCl. Exposure to IR induced an additional decrease in chemotaxis immediately after an acute dose in the transition stage of the food-NaCl associative learning. Strikingly, chronic irradiation induced negative chemotaxis in the exposed animals, i.e., the primary avoidance response. IR-induced additional decreases in chemotaxis following acute and chronic irradiations were significantly suppressed in the
mutant, which was defective in GPC-1. Chemotaxis to cAMP, but not to lysine and benzaldehyde, was influenced by IR during the food-NaCl associative learning. Our novel findings suggest that IR behaves as a modulator in the food-NaCl associative learning via
GPC-1 and a specific neuronal network.