Premium
Oral grasping of a surrogate nipple by the newborn rat
Author(s) -
Smotherman William P.,
Goffman Dena,
Petrov Evgeniy S.,
Varlinskaya Elena I.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199707)31:1<3::aid-dev2>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - licking , psychology , neurochemical , developmental psychology , physiology , medicine , endocrinology , neuroscience
Newborn rat pups exhibit oral appetitive behaviors when presented with an artificial nipple. These behaviors include mouthing and licking movements and expression of a stereotyped oral grasp response. Caesarean‐delivered pups show increased responding to the nipple over the first 5 hr after birth that is independent of experience with the nipple. Mimicking maternal licking by stimulating the anogenital region of the newborn rat with a soft paintbrush increases responses to the nipple. Pups tested after 24 hr of normal suckling experience respond to the artificial nipple when tested immediately after separation from the mother. However, oral grasping of the nipple is more frequent in 1‐day‐old pups tested 3 or 5 hr after separation from the mother. Study of behavioral responses to the artificial nipple promises to provide information about sensory and neurochemical controls of the initial suckling episode. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 31: 3–17, 1997