Abstract
Recent research has demonstrated that behavioral reactivity of the 15-day-old rat is influenced by environmental stimuli. At this stage of ontogeny, pups become extremely active when placed in an environment lacking familiar cues, yet stimuli from the home cage can eliminate this hyperactivity. The present experiments were designed to determine the types of sensory stimuli that suppress hyperactivity in the 15-day-old rat pup. These experiments indicate that the integrity of the olfactory bulbs is necessary for the recognition of and preference for home bedding. Although pups lost weight following surgery, heightened activity was shown not to be a function of food deprivation. In addition, the presence of an anesthetized adult was highly effective in suppressing the activity of the bulbectomized pup, suggesting that, in the absence of odor cues, the 15-day-old is capable of utilizing nonolfactory information in the recognition of a familiar environment. These findings suggest that familiarity-induced suppression of activity is under multisensory control in the 15-day-old.
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