Suckling Isn't Feeding, or Is It? A Search for Developmental Continuities

This chapter describes the suckling behavior of infant rats and some of the recently developed techniques used to study it. It provides a basis for discussion of the relationship between suckling and later ingestive behavior. It is assumed that at least two possible states of affairs could exist: (1) either the suckling system and later ingestion are continuous and based on the same underlying neural structures and organization, with suckling merely undergoing changes that turn it into the adult ingestive system by the time of weaning; or (2) the adult ingestive system is built on a separate ingestive structure and has little in common with that of suckling. The chapter discusses the ways in which suckling behavior differs from later ingestive behavior and points out suggestive differences in the physiological controls and neural substrates of suckling and later ingestion. It shows that another ingestive system does exist in rat pups concurrently with suckling, and while it is not used by the infant during normal development, this system may represent the true forerunner of later ingestive behavior. © 1983, Academic Press, Inc.

Duke Scholars

Author Christina L. Williams Psychology & Neuroscience