Water can induce better spatial memory performance than food in radial maze learning by rats.

Two experiments were carried out to test the differential effects of hunger and thirst on memory performance. In Experiment 1, two groups of rats were exposed to an original radial-maze task and then to a 30-min retention-memory task. The food-deprived group completed the original task more quickly than the water-deprived group, but the thirsty group mastered the memory task more quickly than the hungry group ( p < 0.01). In Experiment 2, deprivation conditions were changed from the original to the memory task. The food-water group completed the memory task more rapidly than the water-food group ( p < 0.05). Thirst proved to constitute a more favorable condition for retention-memory learning. The applicability of several theories is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]