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PubMed1984

The use of tactile and olfactory cues in neonatal orientation and localization of the nipple.

A good deal of effort has been directed toward determining the sensory cues employed by neonatal animals in orienting to, and localizing, the nipple. The results of previous studies are contradictory. Some investigators have claimed that olfactory cues are critical, while others suggest that tactile cues are of primary importance in these behaviors. The present studies indicate that, in kittens, there are two essential components of the suckling process: orientation to the mother and localization of the nipple. In these experiments, the ability and time involved in localizing and attaching to the nipple of the anesthetized mother were measured in several conditions. With tactile input impaired, kittens had no difficulty locating the mother, but could not locate the nipple. In contrast, olfactory disruption never impaired nipple localization and attachment when the kitten was in contact with the mother, but interfered with the kitten's ability to locate the mother when removed from her. These data suggest that olfactory cues are employed in locating the mother, and tactile cues from the perioral region are employed in locating the nipple.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Age-dependent effects of NGF and scopolamine on suckling behavior of neonatal mice.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) influences the neurochemical differentiation of central cholinergic neurons of developing rodents. In this study, NGF was given intracerebrally to mice on different postnatal days (days 5 and 7, or days 8 and 10). Pups were tested for suckling behavior 24 h after the second NGF injection, following systemic administration of either the muscarinic cholinergic antagonist scopolamine or saline solution. Scopolamine significantly impaired nipple attachment on day 11 but not on day 8, and decreased locomotor activity in 11-day pups. NGF given on days 5 and 7 increased paddling and treading on day 8, and this effect was more pronounced in scopolamine injected pups. Pretreatment with NGF on days 8 and 10 decreased activity levels in 11-day pups. The differences in the effects of scopolamine at successive ages suggest that distinct portions of the cholinergic system mature at different rates and that sensitivity to NGF is age dependent. NGF appears to influence functional maturation of that portion of the cholinergic system involved in the regulation of locomotor activity.

Aging↗
PubMed1987

[The effects of mother-infant separation upon nursing and suckling behaviors of the rat].

The present study was intended to evaluate the hypothesis that the nursing-suckling relationship of rats proceeds from the mother-leading-type in early postpartum days to the infants-leading-type in later postpartum. Four groups were organized to make tests on the effects of different kinds of mother-infant separation (8-hr) upon nursing-suckling behaviors. Groups were Groups MIS (a separated mother and infants group), MS (mother-separated and infants-fostered group), IS (a foster-mother and separated-infants group), and C (non-separated control group). The separation of each group, lasting for 8-hr, was made at 1-2, 6-7, 11-12, 16-17, 21-22, 26-27, and 31-32 days after parturition. In Exp. I, nursing behavior of mother and suckling and/or eating behavior of infants in mother-infant interactions were observed by time-sampling method for 30 min following 8-hr of separation. In Exp. II, the suckling test of infants (half of the litter) was made on the anesthetized mother at the presence of food pellets. The results of Exp. I showed that nursing-suckling episodes were more frequent in Groups MIS, MS, and IS than in Group C (fig. 1). Further, the differences among the first three groups were not significant before 11-12 days of age. However, the infant-separated group (Group IS) showed higher level of response at 16-17, 21-22 days of age, suggesting the active role of infants in starting nursing-suckling episodes at these ages.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Components of developmental care and the evidence for their use in the NICU.

Developmental care, a philosophy of care that requires rethinking the relationships between infants, families, and healthcare providers, is in place in the majority of neonatal intensive care units in the United States. Developmental care includes a variety of activities designed to manage the environment and individualize the care of the premature infant based on behavioral observations. The goal is to promote a stable, well-organized infant who can conserve energy for growth and development. Research about the effects of developmental care has shown a trend toward improved short-term physiologic, development, and resource utilization outcomes for infants up to 24 months of age, but benefits beyond this age are unclear. Most of the research has focused on developmental care as a whole, but there is also strong scientific evidence for specific components of developmental care. The NICU care provider should use developmental care interventions that are clearly supported by evidence, and use others based on judgment and the infant's responses.

Child Development↗
PubMed1994

Learning of suckling odors by newborn rabbits declines with age and suckling experience.

After being nursed just once for 4-5 min by an artificially scented doe, newborn rabbits show the full pattern of nipple-search behavior when placed on a fur scented with the same odor as their mother. It was the aim of the present study to test whether such rapid learning is dependent on age. In Experiment 1 in which normally raised pups were nursed by a scented doe either on Days 1, 3 or 5, conditionability was found to decline markedly by postnatal Day 5. In Experiment 2 conditionability was maintained in pups deprived of suckling experience by bottle feeding from Days 1-4, but not in hand-raised pups allowed to search on a doe for 4 min daily without milk intake. Possible mechanisms underlying the decline in conditionability to suckling odors, as well as the potential functional significance of this early learning for immediate postnatal and later life are discussed.

Aging↗
PubMed1995

Behavioral responses of the chronically instrumented sheep fetus to chemosensory stimuli presented in utero.

Fetal sheep were surgically prepared on Days 113-114 of gestation with an array of chronic instruments for recording electromyographic data (EMG) in oral--facial, axial, and limb muscles and heart rate (FHR). Fetuses also were fitted with an intraoral catheter for infusion of chemosensory fluids (isotonic saline, quinine, colostrum, sucrose) onto the surface of the tongue. Individual subjects received chemosensory infusions on Days 134-137. Fetuses showed consistent oral responses to quinine and milk, but did not respond to isotonic saline or sucrose. Different patterns of motor responses suggest that fetuses discriminated among different concentrations of quinine. The expression of tachycardia to quinine and bradycardia to milk also suggested differential responding to chemosensory fluids that differ in hedonic qualities. Detailed characterization of fetal responses to these stimuli in utero confirm the functionality of the gustatory system in the sheep fetus near term.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Effects of warmth on newborn rats' motor activity and oral responsiveness to an artificial nipple.

Temperature is a powerful regulator of the behavior and physiology of newborn altricial animals. The effects of warmth on newborn rats' oral responsiveness to suckling stimuli and spontaneous motor activity in a thermoneutral environment were investigated. Newborn rat pups' oral grasp responses to an artificial nipple and overall motor activity were recorded for 18 min. Near-term pups were delivered by cesarean section so that their 1st experiences with suckling stimuli could be observed. Experimental pups were warmed for 15 s every 2 min; control pups were not warmed. Warmed pups grasped the nipple fewer times than the not-warmed pups. However, oral grasp durations became longer for the warmed pups but not for the not-warmed pups. Warmth increased pups' motor activity but only while the heat was applied. Warmth in a thermoneutral environment may promote longer nipple attachment during newborns' early feeding experiences.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Relative importance of experience, social facilitation, and availability of milk in weaning of rats.

These studies investigated the role that social facilitation, availability of the dam, and milk play in the maintenance of suckling behavior. Beginning at Day 20, rat pups' suckling experiences were restricted to testing with an anesthetized dam. In the first experiment, nipple attachment was abandoned by about Day 25 in rats that were tested alone with an anesthetized dam for 1 hr per day. When tested in groups of four, nipple attachment was maintained until about Day 27. Increasing exposure to an anesthetized dam to 2 hr per day prolonged nipple attachment about another 4 days. In the second experiment, pups were given either one or two daily 1-hr attachment tests and tested with either an anesthetized dam or an anesthetized dam in which the milk letdown reflex was reinstated. Both increasing the daily exposure to an anesthetized dam and reinstating milk letdown significantly prolonged suckling. Pups given two daily exposures to an anesthetized, milk-laden dam attached until about Day 47, long past the normal age of weaning.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Parity-related differences in suckling behavior and nipple preference among free-ranging Japanese macaques.

Suckling behavior of primiparae in free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) was compared with that of multiparae at Jigokudani Monkey Park, the Shiga Heights, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, from April 1984 to 1994. The estimated rates of milk secretion in a single preferred nipple among primiparae were lower than those among multiparae from birth to 5 months of age. Milk secretion capabilities of primiparous mothers, hence, appear to be inferior to those of multiparous mothers. In nutritive suckling, although Japanese macaque infants preferred one single nipple, nipple preferences in primiparae were weaker than those in multiparae. With supplementary two-nipple use during suckling, however, the infants of primiparae appear to overcome a suckling flaw of their primiparous mothers. After infants were 5 months of age and after a drop (from approximately 10% to approximately 5%) in the rates of milk secretion, however, milk secretion rates in a single preferred nipple among primiparae were similar to those in multiparae and the supplementary two-nipple use in primiparous mother-infant dyads disappeared.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Comparing breastfeeding and breast pumps using a computer model.

There is a role for computer models in increasing the understanding of milk extraction from the human teat. A computer model can be used to investigate aspects of extracting milk from the human teat which are not feasible using clinical experiments. In this paper, the behavior of the human teat during an infant suckling and with the use of a breast pump is modeled. The model is used to (1) identify the role of suction and the peristaltic motion of the tongue during suckling and (2) compare the volume of milk extracted by an infant breastfeeding with that obtained using a breast pump. Infants use a peristaltic motion of the tongue, along with some suction, to extract milk. Breast pumps use a cyclic pattern of suction only. In the model, the human teat is represented as a cylindrical porous elastic material saturated with fluid. We mimic an infant suckling by imposing both suction and a peristaltic force in the computer model of the human teat. This is compared to the effect of suction only, which models the action of breast pumps. The results demonstrate that there is an optimal time to apply the peristaltic force during the suction cycle which will increase the milk volume. The model and results may be of use in the future design of effective breast pumps.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1991

Suckling behavior of ewes in early lactation.

Previous studies have described the basic suckling behavior of ewe/lamb pairs during daylight hours, but no information is available for the hours of darkness. In this study, the natural pattern of suckling was recorded over a 24-h period once a week for the first 7 weeks of lactation in 7 free-ranging Merino ewes with single lambs. Both the mean suckling frequency per 24 hours and the mean duration of individual suckling bouts declined with increasing age of the lamb. Suckling frequencies fell from 36 +/- 5.5 sucks/24 h at 1-2 weeks of age to 14.3 +/- 2.78 sucks/24 h at 6-7 weeks of age. Individual suckling bout duration fell from 41.1 +/- 9.9 s at 1-2 weeks of age to 11.9 +/- 1.2 s by 6-7 weeks. Suckling frequencies per hour were significantly greater during daylight as compared to darkness (p less than 0.05). We suggest that the declining frequency and duration of suckling bouts with age probably accounts for the waning influence of lactation on the reproductive state of the ewe, and that the maintenance of a critical interbout interval may first break down at night.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1989

Methysergide-induced nipple attachment depends on suckling experience in juvenile rats.

These studies were designed to investigate the links between pharmacological and behavioral procedures that facilitate suckling in weanling rats by assessing the effects of methysergide on nipple attachment behavior following experiential manipulations known to either promote or attenuate suckling. In the first experiment, methysergide failed to stimulate suckling in 25-day-old rats separated from their dam on Day 20, although it facilitated suckling in rats kept with the dam until either Day 24 or Day 25. In the second experiment, methysergide did not facilitate suckling in 35-day-old rats separated on Day 25, although rats separated on Day 30 or 34 were induced to suckle. In the third experiment, rats were housed with preweanling litters until Day 35 and then separated, housed with 25-day-old litters, or housed with preweanling litters for another 10 days. Rats in a fourth group remained with their dams until Day 35 and were then separated for 10 days. When tested at Day 45, nipple attachment was facilitated by methysergide only in the three groups that had received extended suckling experience. These results demonstrate that serotonergic inhibitory mechanisms modulate nipple attachment only when suckling experience is recent or extensive.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Ontogeny of oral function in hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).

The oral apparatus of neonatal and juvenile golden hamsters was investigated by clearing and staining of whole crania, videotaping of behavior, and electromyography of several jaw muscles. Chewing developed during the first postnatal week and matured in the second; however, suckling was still the primary mode of feeding. Micromovements of the jaws occurred early when the osseous skeleton and joints developed. Macromovements correlated well with EMG records and were limited to jaw opening at birth. Muscles of the oral floor generated large bursts of activity during jaw opening and tongue protrusion from 0 days postnatal (dpn), when simple and stereotyped gaping was induced, until 14 dpn, when movements were spontaneous and not stereotyped nor inducible. However, adductor muscle activity was brief, low in amplitude, and primarily involved with jaw stabilization until 4 dpn, when these muscles became active during closing the jaws; closing activity increased in frequency and amplitude until the end of the second week. Development of frequent, coordinated macromovements of chewing was associated with the refinement of joint structure and dental occlusion and with the growth of the craniofacial skeleton. Jaw movements and associated EMG's correlated better with available data on development of neural circuitry than with that for musculoskeletal development.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

The assessment of behavioral change in infants undergoing narcotic withdrawal: comparative data from clinical and objective methods.

Studies comparing objective measures of sucking with data from finegrained clinical assessments of the neonate have shown significant correlations between painstaking and time-comsuming clinical methods which may only be reliably applied by highly trained clinician-investigators, and the data generated by a simple technique which can be rapidly and precisely administered in the nursery by nurses or technicians. Within a few minutes the sucking instrument can generate data that explain 50% or more of the variance in certain relevant factors of the Brazelton neonatal neurobehavioral assessment scale, which in our hands requires the participation of two trained clinician-investigators for a period of almost one hour for each test and recording session. There are certain limitations to the information directly available from the sucking measures. Clinical observations must be made in order to correctly interpret some of the findings such as the biphasic relationship between irritability and sucking. For example, an infant may not suck at all because it is obtunded, or it may not suck because it is overexcited. In the case of irritability, sucking performance provides a measure of the magnitude, but not of the polarity of the CNS arousal sucking correlates directly and gives a good estimate of both polarity as well as amount of these behaviors. Objective measures of sucking behavior are a convenient and reliable means for measuring drug effects in the nursery and may be useful in regulating therapy of the newborn.

Arousal↗
PubMed1984

Effect of dopamine-depleting brain lesions on suckling and weaning in rats.

Rats given large dopamine-depleting brain lesions as adults exhibit severe impairments in ingestive behavior and sensorimotor function. In contrast to these well-known effects, virtually complete destruction of central dopaminergic neurons produced no such dysfunctions when it occurred in neonates. Indeed, rats continued to suckle and grow, albeit somewhat more slowly, and they could be weaned readily when they were 27 days old. Although most brain-damaged animals did not survive weaning when they were 18 days old, whereas controls exhibited no difficulty, this failure appears to be the consequence of their reduced body weight and related inability to maintain body temperature in a relatively cool environment (22 degrees C). Such premature weaning occurred more successfully when growth was stimulated by rearing brain-damaged pups in small litters or when ambient temperatures were raised to 31 degrees C so as to minimize heat loss. These results demonstrate that the effects of near-total dopamine-depleting brain lesions are considerably less severe when they occur in infants than when they occur in adults, and, consequently, they reveal a capacity for neural plasticity during development that is no longer present at maturity.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Sensory systems and nipple attachment behavior in neonatal pigs.

The influence of piglet sensory systems and the role of odors from the sow's ventrum on piglet nipple attachment were investigated. In Experiment 1, four sows had their ventrum washed with organic solvents and four were unwashed control sows. Piglets were given one of four treatments shortly after birth: nares that were mechanically blocked (B), a lidocaine flush of the olfactory system (LFO), a saline flush of the olfactory system (SFO) or nontreated controls (C). Time to attach to a nipple, up to a maximum of 600 sec, was recorded. On unwashed sows, nipple attachment was affected (p less than 0.01) by piglet treatment. Piglets have B or LFO treatments took longer to attach to a nipple than SFO or C piglets. Piglets of all treatments took longer to attach to washed sows than to unwashed controls. Seven unwashed sows and their litters were used in Experiment 2. Piglets were tested after birth with one of the following treatments: an olfactory system flushed with lidocaine, lidocaine on nose (LN), lidocaine applied to the tongue (LT) or nontreated controls. All lidocaine-treated piglets took more time to attach than C piglets. Nipple attachment latencies were intermediate for LN or LT piglets. In Experiment 3, three unwashed sows and their litters were used. Treatments were: lidocaine applied to both the nose and the tongue (LNT), an olfactory system flushed with lidocaine or nontreated controls. LFO piglets had an increased latency to attachment compared to controls while LNT piglets were intermediate in latency to attach. Piglet olfaction, gustation and tactile sensory modalities as well as odors on the sow's ventrum influenced nipple attachment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Rhythmical oral-motor activity recorded in an in vitro brainstem preparation.

The present study employed the neonatal rat isolated brainstem preparation to determine whether oral-motor rhythmical activity, a substrate for the complex behaviors of suckling and chewing, could be elicited in vitro by path application of excitatory amino acids (EAAs). Bath application of EAA agonists (kainate [KA], [+/-]-a-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid [AMPA], N-methyl-D, L-aspartate [NMA]), in conjunction with the gamma-aminobutyric acid antagonist bicuculline, either failed to induce rhythmic activity (n = 17 preparations) or induced a low-amplitude, low-frequency burst discharge (< 1 Hz, n = 10 preparations) from the motor branches of the trigeminal nerves when the brainstem was contiguous from the spinomedullary junction to the superior colliculus. Burst activity was in most cases bilaterally synchronous. However, when a discrete coronal transection was made at the level of the facial colliculus, between the trigeminal and facial motor nuclei, the rhythmic bursts produced by the resultant 3- to 5-mm block of tissue following bath application of EAA agonists increased in amplitude and frequency (4-8 Hz, n = 35). Application of 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2, 3-dione (CNQX), a non-N-methyl-D-aspartate (non-NMDA) receptor antagonist, blocked the rhythm induced by non-NMDA receptor agonist (n = 4) but was less effective in suppressing NMA-induced rhythmicity. In contrast, D, L-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) blocked by both NMA-induced (n = 5) and, in most cases, KA-induced (n = 5) rhythmicity, suggesting an essential role for NMA receptors in production of EAA-induced rhythmical oral-motor activity in the neonatal rat. The present data demonstrate that a narrow, bilaterally distributed region of brainstem surrounding the trigeminal motor nucleus contains sufficient neuronal circuitry for the production of oral-motor rhythmogenesis.

Animals↗