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The ontogeny of thermal nociception in domestic fowl: Thermal stimulus intensity and isolation effects
Author(s) -
Hughes Richard A.,
Sufka Kenneth J.
Publication year - 1990
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/dev.420230204
Subject(s) - precocial , neophobia , nociception , fowl , ontogeny , zoology , stimulus (psychology) , jump , latency (audio) , psychology , developmental psychology , biology , endocrinology , medicine , physics , ecology , receptor , engineering , quantum mechanics , electrical engineering , psychotherapist
Socially housed leghorn cockerels were confined to a heated grid (55, 57, or 59°C, Experiment 1; 59, 61, or 63°C, Experiment 2) and tested at posthatch ages of 14 days (Experiment 1) and 1, 3, 7, or 14 days (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, chicks performed a discrete jump response only at 59°C. In Experiment 2, jump latency was inversely related to temperature at each age but significantly so only at 7 and 14 days posthatch. At the highest temperature, jump latency did not differ significantly across ages. At medium and low temperatures, latency increased from 1 and 3 to 7 days posthatch (antinociceptive effect) and decreased thereafter. Chicks raised in isolation from hatch to 7 days posthatch (Experiment 3) did not display the increased jump latency (antinociceptive effect) displayed by socially raised chicks. Developmental increases in jump latency may reflect stress‐induced antinociceptive concomitants of neophobia that emerge with age in this precocial species and social experience may be required for the normal development of this stress‐induced antinociception.