Trigeminal deafferentation and feeding in the pigeon: sensorimotor and motivational effects

The role of oral sensations in the control of hunger and thirst in the pigeon was studied in birds in which the trigeminal sensory nerves had been sectioned bilaterally. Trigeminal deafferentation, although it does not impair drinking, disrupts both the neurosensory and the motivational control of feeding behavior. These two types of deficit may be experimentally dissociated.