A novel receptive area of key importance for the onset of diving responses in the duck.
We have found that the stimulation of the mucosa of the rhinopharynx elicits apnea and bradycardia in the duck. This appears to be the most important area involved in the production of diving responses. The laryngeal mucosa and other areas, as the external nares, were found to be of lesser relevance. We have also observed that visual and thermal stimuli may participate in the elicitation of the responses to submersion.
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D004242:Diving; D004372:Ducks / Q000502:physiology*; D004564:Electrocoagulation; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007820:Laryngeal Mucosa / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008297:Male; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D012119:Respiration; D014140:Tracheotomy