April 2019: No evidence that portion size influences food consumption in male Sprague Dawley rats
Studies carried out by researchers at the University of Leicester supported by the Division of Biomedical Services led by James McCutcheon's research group.
Highlights
- Portion size effect (PSE) refers to increased food intake induced by large portions.
- Although widely replicated in human feeding studies, it may not exist in animals.
- Presence of a PSE in animals would shed light on its mechanisms, which are not known.
- Here, we find no evidence of PSE in male Sprague Dawley rats under a number of experimental conditions.
- This suggests that the human PSE is more likely due to socio-cognitive processes.
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