Pellis S M, Pellis V C, Morrissey T K, Teitelbaum P
Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611.
Behav Brain Res. 1989 Oct 1;35(1):23-6. doi: 10.1016/s0166-4328(89)80004-x.
Unlike cats, which can initiate righting in the air either with vestibular or visual input alone, the rat is dependent solely upon the labyrinths to trigger this response. We show, however, that the rat can modulate the onset and speed of its rotation according to the height above the ground from which it is dropped. In the absence of vision, rates initiate rotation with a latency of about 50 ms, irrespective of the height from which they are dropped. With vision, rats can modulate their latency to begin rotation, from about 102 ms at 50 cm, to about 39 ms at 7.5 cm. Similarly, as height of release decreases, the speed of rotation (i.e. degrees/ms) increases. Thus, in rats, even though vision cannot trigger air-righting, it does adaptively modulate this behavior as an allied reflex, increasing the likelihood that the animals will land on their feet.
与猫不同，猫可以仅通过前庭或视觉输入在空中启动翻正反应，而大鼠完全依赖内耳迷路来触发这种反应。然而，我们发现，大鼠可以根据其被扔下的地面高度来调节其旋转的起始和速度。在没有视觉的情况下，大鼠开始旋转的潜伏期约为50毫秒，与它们被扔下的高度无关。有视觉时，大鼠可以调节其开始旋转的潜伏期，从50厘米高度时的约102毫秒，到7.5厘米高度时的约39毫秒。同样，随着释放高度的降低，旋转速度（即度/毫秒）会增加。因此，在大鼠中，即使视觉不能触发空中翻正，但它确实作为一种联合反射适应性地调节这种行为，增加了动物用脚着地的可能性。
