Concern for the healthy development of the fetus and the premature infant continues to spawn considerable interest in prenatal behavior, yet relatively little is known about how a fetus behaves and responds to changes within its uterine environment. In spite of technological advances, methodological problems and ethical considerations have limited the study of the human fetus to indirect monitoring and postnatal inference. Therefore, direct observation and experimentation is possible only with nonhuman subjects. Recent technical developments now enable precise manipulation of the intrauterine environment of the rat fetus and observation of fetal behavior in utero. With the pregnant female rat surgically prepared by reversible spinal anesthesia or more long-lasting chemomyelotomy, her uterus may be externalized into a warm saline bath and the intrauterine environment manipulated by intra-amniotic injection, chemosensory stimulation delivered by intraoral infusion, and behavior of the fetus directly observed through the uterine wall (in utero) or within an unrestrained fluid medium (ex utero). These procedural tools now permit study of the developing mammalian fetus in its environment. This proposal outlines a general program of research to investigate the behavioral biology of the rat fetus. The objective of the proposed research is fivefold: (a) to develop and improve methodologies for the study of fetal behavior, (b) to identify age-related and environmental influences on the emergence and organization of spontaneous fetal behavior, (c) to manipulate the prenatal chemical milieu to map the sensory and learning abilities of the fetus, (d) to examine the transition from prenatal to postnatal life in an effort to identify behavioral continuities, and (e) to investigate the ability of the fetus to respond to suboptimal intrauterine conditions and estimate their long- term consequences.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD016102-09
Application #
3313444
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (SSS (05))
Project Start
1982-04-01
Project End
1992-05-31
Budget Start
1990-06-01
Budget End
1991-05-31
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
1990
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
State University of NY, Binghamton
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
090189965
City
Binghamton
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
13902
Bacher, Leigh F; Smotherman, William P (2004) Systematic temporal variation in the rate of spontaneous eye blinking in human infants. Dev Psychobiol 44:140-5
Bacher, Leigh F; Smotherman, William P (2004) Spontaneous eye blinking in human infants: a review. Dev Psychobiol 44:95-102
Smotherman, William P (2003) Classical conditioning in the rat fetus. III. Retention, extinction, and re-activation of the conditioned response (CR). Dev Psychobiol 42:181-93
Smotherman, William P (2002) Early experience with the artificial nipple. Dev Psychobiol 41:1-14
Smotherman, William P (2002) Classical conditioning in the rat fetus: involvement of mu and kappa opioid systems in the conditioned response. Dev Psychobiol 40:104-15
Smotherman, William P (2002) Classical conditioning in the rat fetus: temporal characteristics and behavioral correlates of the conditioned response. Dev Psychobiol 40:116-30
Bacher, L F; Smotherman, W P; Robertson, S S (2001) Effects of warmth on newborn rats' motor activity and oral responsiveness to an artificial nipple. Behav Neurosci 115:675-82
Petrov, E S; Varlinskaya, E I; Smotherman, W P (2000) The first suckling episode in the rat: the role of endogenous activity at mu and kappa opioid receptors. Dev Psychobiol 37:129-43
Bacher, L F; Robertson, S S; Smotherman, W P (2000) An intrinsic source of behavioral regulation that influences discrete responses to cues important for the initiation of suckling. Behav Neurosci 114:594-601
Petrov, E S; Nizhnikov, M E; Smotherman, W P (2000) Milk delivery schedules and stomach preloading alter patterns of suckling behavior by newborn rats on a surrogate nipple. Behav Neurosci 114:783-96

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