Kindermann U, Gervais R, Hudson R
Laboratoire de Physiologie Neurosensorielle, UA CNRS 180, Université Claude Bernard, Villeurbanne, France.
Physiol Behav. 1991 Aug;50(2):457-60. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(91)90094-5.
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.
兔崽完全依赖母体信息素来引发吮乳行为。然而，如果在哺乳前给母兔涂抹香水，兔崽只需经过一次3 - 4分钟的哺乳过程，就能学会对这种新气味做出特征性的寻找乳头行为反应。在对这种最新发展的学习模式背后的过程进行的首次研究中，发现低温对任务记忆的时间依赖性影响。因此，在条件反射后立即将全身冷却至口腔温度7摄氏度的幼崽（n = 10），24小时后在有香味的皮毛上测试3分钟，其寻找反应与未经处理的天真对照组（n = 10）相比无显著差异。相比之下，在条件反射后4小时冷却的幼崽（n = 10）表现出对所学反应的明显记忆，并且像经过条件反射但未冷却的动物（n = 10）一样积极地进行寻找。由于所有组的幼崽在在泌乳母兔身上测试时都表现出正常的寻找乳头行为，与立即冷却相关的缺陷似乎特定于学习任务和处理时间。
