Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1985

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Abstract

This research was designed to assess the extent to which olfactory cues, both main olfactory and vomeronasal, are important in the expression of independent ingestion in 6-day-old rat pups. Independent ingestion in young rat pups involves the intake of large volumes of milk (delivered throught an intraoral cannula) and is accompanied by dramatic behavioral activation. It was found that behavioral activation in response to milk infusions or milk odor was eliminated in pups deprived of main olfactory input (by nasal lavage with ZnS04), or vomeronasal input (by vomeronasal nerve sections). Similarly, after vomeronasal deafferentation and ZnS04 lavage pups cease to probe and become active in response to milk infusions and milk odor accompanied by water infusions. The results suggest that behavioral activation may be mediated in a similar fashion by both the main and vomeronasal olfactory system.

Extent

93 p.

Comments

FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1985.|Charles E. Schmidt College of Science|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identifier

FADT14257

Format

pdf

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