Activity level and auditory responsiveness in neonatal chickens

Abstract

The effects of prestimulus activity levels on auditory responsiveness were evaluated in newborn chickens. Rates of peeping were used as measures of prestimulus activity, and delays in the otherwise ongoing vocalizations were used as measures of responsiveness. Results show increased responsiveness to pure tones at intermediate levels of prestimulus activity. Responsiveness is reduced during periods of high and low activity. The effect is strongest just prior to the stimulus. Similar analyses could be useful in other studies that depend on the changing rate of repetitive responses, such as gross body movements, head turning, heart rate, and perhaps neural potentials. Some of the variability in the responses of young subjects can be controlled by measuring the subject's activity at the time a stimulus is presented.

Effects of prenatal sensory stimulation on heart rate and behavioral measures of arousal in bobwhite quail embryos

“…Activities such as head and body movements and vocalizations appear to be indicative of behavioral arousal in precocial avian species, with low arousal associated with low levels of movements and vocalizations and high arousal associated with higher rates of movements and vocalizations (Gottlieb, 1971a;Gray, 1990). This experiment used activity level (overall number of bill claps, head and body movements, and vocalizations) as a behavioral measure of arousal level to compare control bobwhite quail embryos, which received no augmented prenatal sensory stimulation, and experimental embryos, which received augmented unimodal or bimodal sensory stimulation in the period prior to hatching.…”

“…Activities such as bill claps, head movements, body movements, and vocalizations have been shown to be reliable behavioral indexes of arousal in precocial avian species, with low arousal associated with a low level of vocalizations and movement and high arousal associated with higher levels of vocalizations and movement (Gottlieb, 1971b;Gray, 1990;Oppenheim, 1968). In addition, measures of the heart rate of precocial avian embryos also have been successfully used in a number of studies of embryonic sensitivity to sensory stimulation (Gottlieb, 1968(Gottlieb, , 1971bOckleford & Vince, 1977;Tolhurst & Vince, 1976).…”

Effects of prenatal visual stimulation on growth and heart rate in bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus)

“…Excessive or reduced arousal levels are thought to be associated with interference in speciestypical patterns of behavior, whereas moderate levels of arousal are associated with species-typical outcomes (Gray, 1990;Lickliter & Lewkowicz, 1995;Radell & Gottlieb, 1992;Sleigh & Lickliter, 1997). Although the term arousal has not always been precisely defined, it usually refers at least in part, to an increase in overall sympathetic nervous system flow.…”

Predicting Explorative Behavior by Level of Emotional Reactivity in Bobwhite Quail Neonates (Colinus virginianus)

“…Each subject was transferred from the rearing room by hand and placed at its corresponding starting point, at which time the auditory stimulus immediately began playing and Noldus Ethovision XT automatically began recording all subsequent movement throughout the session. Each trial ran for 1200 seconds (20 min) to give ample time for subjects in each condition to explore the maze, without limiting those that were more emotionally reactive and thus slower to respond (Gray, 1990). After testing, each subject was transferred back to the rearing room and placed in a new rearing tub isolated from those subjects that had yet to be tested.…”