title: Orientation responses to biological odours in the human newborn. Initial pattern and postnatal plasticity.
abstract: The initial pattern and development of odour preference was studied in infants simultaneously exposed to amniotic fluid (AF) and maternal lacteal secretion (L). Five groups of varying age (range: 1-5 days) and breast-feeding experience (range: 0-32 feeds) were studied. Before postnatal day 3, no evidence of differentiation of AF and L was apparent. After 3 days and 7-12 breast-feeding episodes, a significant preference for L arised. The initial stage (days 1-3) may reflect fetal acquisition of AF odour and sensory/motivational equivalence of AF and L odours. The second stage (days 4-5) may reflect the infants' perception of change in milk quality and increasing experience with milk. This sequential development attests to a high plasticity in the initial stage of human olfactory development.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de psychophysique sensorielle, CNRS EP 618, université Louis-Pasteur, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marlier
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schaal
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soussignan
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000653:Amniotic Fluid; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003126:Colostrum; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018730:Infant Behavior; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009042:Motivation; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D009812:Odorants; D011247:Pregnancy; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*