Fig. 1

(A) Experimental timelines (Acesulfame potassium = Ace-K; postnatal day = PN); sample sizes listed represent the final N for each experiment. Lines not to scale. Note that one of the circumvallate histology cohorts underwent taste testing prior to harvest, but those results were presented elsewhere⁴⁹. (B) Mean ± SEM cumulative water versus 0.1% Ace-K intake during a two bottle choice test at 24 h, and 48 h in a separate cohort of naïve rats at PN 57- 64 (n = 4 ♀; n = 4 ♂); inset figures show 30 min water vs 0.1% Ace-K intakes. (C) Mean body mass at the start (PN26) and end (PN77) of the juvenile-adolescence LCS exposure phase, and later just prior to taste testing (PN210-225) and/or tissue collection (PN218) in middle-aged female (F) and male (M) rats. Individual rats are shown as symbols. Values listed above the bars on PN77 indicate the mean percent weight gain during the Ace-K exposure phase. Control n = 22 (11♀; 11♂); Ace-K n = 21 (8♀; 13♂). * P ≤ 0.05, ** P ≤ 0.01, *** P ≤ 0.001. Statistical outcomes are presented in Tables S1, S2. Schematics were created with Biorender.