Oral grasping of a surrogate nipple by the newborn rat

Smotherman, William P.; Goffman, Dena; Petrov, Evgeniy S.; Varlinskaya, Elena I.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199707)31:1<3::aid-dev2>3.0.co;2-q

Cited by 49 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Nevertheless, even these procedures can sometimes be inappropriate shortly after birth. For example, nipple attachment behavior, seen prenatally but rarely soon after birth, increases over the first five postnatal hours (Smotherman, Goffman, Petrov, & Varlinskaya, 1997). Furthermore, in human research particularly, but also with rodents, there is a desire to leave the mother-infant dyad undisturbed soon after birth.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The effects of early postnatal odor exposure on later behavioral activation and nipple attachment in the presence of that same odor were tested as a function of how soon after birth the odor was experienced (Experiment 1) and duration of that experience (Experiment 2). Although the newborn rat had seemed unsuitable for associative learning paradigms using the surrogate nipple technique just after birth, until three hours postpartum (Smotherman, Goffman, Petrov, & Varlinskaya, 1997), it remained possible that learning about an odor exposure soon after birth could be expressed on the artificial nipple hours later. A large body of literature demonstrates that younger animals (including humans) forget at a faster rate than older animals (Campbell & Spear, 1972; Rovee-Collier, 1999; Spear & Riccio, 1994).…”

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Olfactory learning in the rat neonate soon after birth

Miller

Spear

2008

Developmental Psychobiology

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The first hours of a newborn rat’s life entail locating and attaching to the mother’s nipple not only for nutrition but also for protection and warmth. The present study sought to characterize olfactory learning in the rat neonate immediately after birth. Newborn rats were exposed to an odor at various time periods soon after birth and tested for behavioral activation and attachment to a surrogate nipple in the presence of this odor at 4–5 hours postpartum. Regardless of when pups were presented the odor (0, 1, or 2 hours after birth) motor activity was greater among pups previously exposed to the odor than pups with no odor experience. Similarly, latency to attach to the nipple in the presence of the odor was lower among odor-preexposed pups, especially when odor exposure began within an hour of cesarean delivery. Odor exposure immediately after birth for just 15 minutes was sufficient to increase motor activity and to decrease latency to attach to a similarly scented surrogate nipple. These results suggest that olfactory experience very soon after birth can shape subsequent olfactory responses. The relative importance of the dearth of postnatal experience or of elevated neurochemicals immediately after birth and possible associative mechanisms underlying this learning is discussed.

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Olfactory learning in the rat neonate soon after birth

Miller

Spear

2008

Developmental Psychobiology

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“…Furthermore, the results of this study have implications for greater understanding of behavior during newborn pups' first suckling episode because the oral grasp response is an important component of the suckling sequence (Smotherman, Goffman, et al, 1997).…”

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An intrinsic source of behavioral regulation that influences discrete responses to cues important for the initiation of suckling.

Bacher¹,

Robertson²,

Smotherman³

2000

Behavioral Neuroscience

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The present experiment investigated the relationship between motor activity and oral grasping of an artificial nipple in newborn rats. Pups orally grasped the artificial nipple, and they performed more and longer oral grasps in the latter portion of the nipple presentation. Motor activity was cyclical, and this cyclicity was evident before and during presentation of the artificial nipple. The onset of an oral grasp response was preceded by a period of relatively low motor activity, and the termination of a grasp was followed by relatively high motor activity. The newborn rat pup's intrinsic oscillations in motor activity may regulate the expression of discrete responses to cues important for the initiation of suckling.

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“…The typical response to presentation of a non-nutritive nipple is a grasp, defined as a firm clenching of the jaw around the nipple by the fetus. This Oral Grasping Response emerges prenatally and shows a clear developmental pattern in rodents (Robinson, et al, 1992; Smotherman, 2002; Smotherman, Goffman, Petrov, & Varlinskaya, 1997). Disruption of this important response prenatally may greatly compromise a pup's ability to receive sustenance from its mother after birth.…”

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confidence: 99%

L-dopa reverses behavioral deficits in the Pitx3 mouse fetus.

Kleven¹,

Booth²,

Voogd³

et al. 2014

Behavioral Neuroscience

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Studies of fetal rodents have provided evidence that early emerging behaviors, such as the suckling response, are dependent on the developing dopaminergic system. Although connections have been made between manipulations of dopamine and altered behavioral responses, the specific neural pathways involved have yet to be discovered. In this study we examined the neurobehavioral output of the nigrostriatal pathway, using the Pitx3ak/2J mouse model (Pitx3). Used extensively in the study of Parkinson's disease, the Pitx3 mouse has very specific prenatal loss of dopaminergic neurons solely in the nigrostriatal pathway. Due to this specificity, we hypothesized that behavioral deficits specific to the nigrostriatal pathway would be reversed with administration of the dopamine precursor 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-Dopa). To test this hypothesis, homozygous mutant and heterozygous control fetal subjects were administered one of four doses (0, 25, 50, or 75 mg/kg) of L-Dopa on the day before birth. Quantification of fetal behavior was scored from video recordings of behavioral observations. The behavioral measures used were: (a) spontaneous movement activity, (b) state organization, from quantifications of high and low amplitude movements, (c) Interlimb Movement Synchrony, a measure of limb coordination, and (d) Oral Grasp, similar to a newborn infant suckling response. Specific behavioral deficits observed in the Pitx3 mutants were reversed by L-Dopa administration in a dose-dependent manner. However, different deficits required dissimilar doses for reversal, suggesting that some early emerging behaviors may be more sensitive to the administration of L-Dopa. Taken together, this study provides valuable information about prenatal behaviors dependent on the nigrostriatal pathway.

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Oral grasping of a surrogate nipple by the newborn rat

Cited by 49 publications

References 39 publications

Olfactory learning in the rat neonate soon after birth

Olfactory learning in the rat neonate soon after birth

An intrinsic source of behavioral regulation that influences discrete responses to cues important for the initiation of suckling.

L-dopa reverses behavioral deficits in the Pitx3 mouse fetus.

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