title: Interactions between contact and chemosensory mechanisms in pain modulation in 10-day-old rats.
abstract: Antinociception was evaluated in 10-day-old rats while suckling or in contact with the mother. Testing occurred during, immediately after, or at 30 and 60 s following milk-induced hyperextension. Hyperextension-induced hypoalgesia terminated immediately with stretch cessation. For suckling rats, baseline escape levels were reacheived within 1 min. For contact rats, baseline levels were also manifest at 30 s but were elevated by 1 min. Sublingual infusions into the anterior portion of the mouth in rats that were either suckling or in contact caused a 20-25-s increase in escape latencies. For suckling rats, escape latencies returned to baseline levels immediately at infusion termination. For contact rats, latencies continued to be elevated for at least 5 min postinfusion. Thus, 3 classes of mother-infant interactions, contact, suckling, and hyperextension during milk letdown, cause varying degrees of hypoalgesia in 10-day-old rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Cornell University, USA.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Blass
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000502:physiology; D018847:Opioid Peptides / Q000502:physiology; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013391:Sucking Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D018847:Opioid Peptides