title: Effects of dark rearing and light exposure on memory for a passive avoidance task in day-old chicks.
abstract: Light exposure during embryogenesis is necessary for functional and morphological maturation in the domestic chick. In the present study, dark incubation was demonstrated to induce a weak amnestic effect on retention for a passive avoidance task and a diminution in discriminative memory ability in day-old chicks. Putative explanations based on possible motor, attentional, or visual impairment were excluded. Light exposure of dark-reared eggs, specifically during embryonic days E19 to E20, alleviated the retention and discrimination deficits. The processes which might mediate between prehatch light stimulation and posthatch behavioral effects are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Brain and Behaviour Research Group, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology*; D002642:Chick Embryo; D003623:Dark Adaptation / Q000502:physiology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology; D005865:Gestational Age; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*