title: Short-term and long-term habituation of exploration in rats, hamsters and gerbils.
abstract: Short-term (within-session) and long-term (between-session) habituation of exploratory behavior was studied in rats, hamsters and gerbils. Subjects were observed in an open field containing four different objects during three 15-min sessions with an 8-14 h interval between each session. Their exploratory activity was measured by the numbers of contacts they made with these objects. The three species differed from each other in both their long-term and short-term habituation of exploration. Rats showed disrupted between-session habituation because of an important initial burst of activity at the beginning of each session. In contrast, hamsters and gerbils displayed between-session habituation, but within-session habituation occured during the first session only. These results are discussed in relation both to the adaptive value of exploration, and to the natural habitat of each species.
authors.affiliation: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Laboratoire de Neurosciences Functionnelles (Ulbis) 31 chemin Joseph-Aiguier 13402 Marseille cedex 9 France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Poucet
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durup
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thinus-Blanc