Oct. 5, 2012 Nausea is a common and distressing side effect of
many drugs and treatments. Unlike vomiting, nausea is not well
understood, but new research by University of Guelph scientists
may soon change that. Guelph PhD student Katharine Tuerke,
neuroscience researcher Cheryl Limebeer and Prof. Linda Parker
in the Department of Psychology believe they've found the
mechanism in the brain that is responsible for the sensation of
nausea -- with the help of some "disgusted" rats. Their study
was published this week in Journal of Neuroscience. "Although
everyone has experienced nausea at some point, its neurobiology
is poorly understood due to a lack of animal models," said
Parker, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Behavioural
Neuroscience. "We know about vomiting. The vomiting reflex is
very well characterized, but the experience of nausea is
something that little is known about. How is it generated? Where
is it generated?" Although rats can't vomit, they do display a
disgust reaction called gaping when r