| Title: | Rapid odor conditioning in newborn rabbits: amnesic effect of hypothermia |
| Author(s): | Kindermann U; Gervais R; Hudson R; |
| Address: | "Laboratoire de Physiologie Neurosensorielle, UA CNRS 180, Universite Claude Bernard, Villeurbanne, France" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/0031-9384(91)90094-5 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0031-9384 (Print) 0031-9384 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Rabbit pups are completely dependent on a maternal pheromone for the release of suckling behavior. However, if the mother is perfumed prior to nursing, pups will learn to respond to the novel odor with the characteristic nipple-search behavior in just one 3-4 min nursing episode. In a first investigation of the processes underlying this recently developed learning paradigm, time-dependent effects of hypothermia on retention of the task could be demonstrated. Thus pups whose whole body was cooled to a mouth temperature of 7 degrees C immediately after conditioning (n = 10) and tested 24 h later for 3 min on a perfumed fur did not differ significantly in their search response from naive, untreated controls (n = 10). In contrast, pups cooled 4 h after conditioning (n = 10) demonstrated clear retention of the learned response and searched as vigorously as conditioned but uncooled animals (n = 10). As pups of all groups demonstrated normal nipple-search behavior when tested on a lactating doe, the deficits associated with immediate cooling appear to have been specific to the learning task and time of treatment" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Animals, Newborn/*psychology *Arousal *Body Temperature Regulation Cold Temperature *Conditioning, Classical *Mental Recall Odorants Rabbits *Smell;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineKindermann, U Gervais, R Hudson, R eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 1991/08/01 Physiol Behav. 1991 Aug; 50(2):457-60. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(91)90094-5" |
