The interrelationship between thermal and olfactory stimulation in the development of home orientation in newborn kittens

Abstract

The presence of a thermal gradient in the home cage and its use in home orientation was studied in kittens from shortly after birth to 2 weeks. Responses on a thermal gradient outside the home cage were also studied. With the home region and a freshly washed cage floor either cooled or warmer, kittens were placed in the adjacent corner or the home. In one study kittens chose between a cooled home and a warmed diagonal region. On a thermal gradient kittens exhibited thermotaxic turning and thermokinetic response. Kittens initially used either thermal or olfactory cues to reach the home but began to use only olfactory cues towards the end of the 1st week. Similarly, warmth in the home region caused "settling" during the 1st week but thereafter warmth and olfactory cues were most effective. Kittens chose the cooled home region more often than the warmed diagonal corner responding to olfactory over thermal cues.

Effects of unusually early visual stimulation on the development of homing behavior in the rat pup

“…For example, home orientation in kittens has been shown to develop in phases: initially, prior to eyelid opening, orientation to the home is mediated primarily by thermal and olfactory cues (Freeman & Rosenblatt, 1978). Soon after eyelid opening, there is a transition period during which olfaction and vision jointly mediate home orientation; kittens then gradually develop visual orientation to the home.…”

Olfactory preference for mother over home nest shavings by newborn rats

“…Our findings are reminiscent of newborn kittens which were found (Freeman & Rosenblatt, 1978) to use an interaction of thermal and olfactory cues to guide home orientation, with olfaction emerging as the dominant cue by the end of the 1st week. Rosenblatt (1983) advanced a theory of the developmental transition to incentive motivation in the neonates of certain species of altricial mammals, which holds that, by associative learning, odors become distal cues attracting infants to sources of thermal and tactile stimulation.…”

The development of spatial capacity in piloting and dead reckoning by infant rats: Use of the huddle as a home base for spatial navigation

“…After making long circuitous trips, the rat pups did not follow their outward route home; the homeward trips often occurred from a distance that a rat would not be able to detect a scent from the huddle; when many rats were leaving and returning olfactory cues would not be punctuate and; the movement displayed by the homing rats does not resemble the slower velocity and back arched posture seen in tracking rats (Whishaw & Gorny, 1999;Wallace et al, 2002c). Fifth, it is also unlikely that homeward trips are mediated simply by thermal gradients (Freeman & Rosenblatt, 1978) because the distance of the animal's outward trips, at least after day 16, were such that they would preclude detection of heat generated by the huddle and because the pups did not orient to a warmed area of the table. It is noteworthy that evidence from adult rats shows that homeward trips are selectively disrupted by labrythectomy, a manipulation that removes an animal's source of directional information (Wallace et al, 2002a,b).…”

“…The study was based on findings that infant rats form a huddle to assist in maintaining body temperature during a formative period of their development (Alberts, 1978a(Alberts, ,b, 1994. Rat pups in a huddle have a rich repertoire of behavior including orienting to their mother and her nipples (Alberts, 1978a;Freeman & Rosenblatt, 1978;Kenyon, Cronin, & Malinek, 1981;Larson & Stein, 1984;Moltz, 1971). The present study examined how rat pups initiate exploratory behavior in relation to the huddle and how exploratory behavior develops.…”