Learning deficits in the neonatal Peking duckling produced by decreased oxygen consumption during late prenatal periods: a cautionary note.
Neonatal Peking ducklings were tested in a detour problem-solving task following replacement of the shell overlying the air space of the egg on Prenatal Day 24 (total incubation period: 27 days) with a plastic wrap. This procedure, a common practice in behavioral embryology, resulted in a significant decrease in oxygen consumption, and a protracted retardation in the mastery of the learning task, with experimental ducklings solving the problem at a mean age of 5.27 days, compared with 2.32 days for controls. These results serve to underscore the problems that may be encountered as a result of any interference with the integrity of the egg during the prenatal period.
D000818:Animals; D004372:Ducks / Q000196:embryology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*
D010100:Oxygen