Larson M A, Stein B E
Dev Psychobiol. 1984 Jul;17(4):423-36. doi: 10.1002/dev.420170408.
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.
大量的努力都致力于确定新生动物在寻找乳头并确定其位置时所使用的感觉线索。先前研究的结果相互矛盾。一些研究者声称嗅觉线索至关重要，而另一些人则认为触觉线索在这些行为中最为重要。目前的研究表明，对于小猫来说，哺乳过程有两个基本组成部分：朝向母亲和确定乳头的位置。在这些实验中，在几种情况下测量了小猫在定位并附着到麻醉母亲乳头时的能力和所需时间。当触觉输入受损时，小猫找到母亲没有困难，但找不到乳头。相比之下，当小猫与母亲接触时，嗅觉干扰从未损害其定位和附着乳头的能力，但当小猫与母亲分开时，会干扰其找到母亲的能力。这些数据表明，嗅觉线索用于寻找母亲，而来自口周区域的触觉线索用于确定乳头的位置。
