PEDIATRICS Vol. 87 No. 4 April 1991, pp. 511-518
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Olfactory Classical Conditioning in Neonates

Regina M. Sullivan PhD1, Suzanne Taborsky-Barba BS1, Raffael Mendoza BS1, Alison Itano BS1, Michael Leon PhD1, Carl W. Cotman PhD1, Terrence F. Payne MPH1, and Ira Lott MD1

1 From the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychobiology, University of California, Irvine, and Irvine Medical Center, Irvine, California

One-day-old, awake infants underwent an olfactory classical conditioning procedure to assess associative learning within the olfactory system of newborns. Experimental infants received ten 30-second pairings of a novel olfactory conditioned stimulus (a citrus odor of neutral value) and tactile stimulation provided by stroking as the reinforcing unconditioned stimulus (a stimulus with positive properties). Control babies received only the odor, only the stroking, or the stroking followed by the odor presentation. The next day, all infants, in either the awake or sleep state, were given five 30-second presentations of the odor. Results were analyzed from video tapes scored by an observer unaware of the infants' training condition. The results indicate that only those infants who received the forward pairings of the odor and stroking exhibited conditioned responding (head turning toward the odor) to the citrus odor. The performance of the conditioned response was not affected by the state of the baby during testing, because both awake and sleeping infants exhibited conditioned responses. Furthermore, the expression of the conditioned response was odor specific; a novel floral odor presented during testing did not elicit conditioned responses in the experimental babies. These results suggest that complex associative olfactory learning is seen in newborns within the first 48 hours of life. These baseline findings may serve as normative data against which observation from neonates at risk for neurological sequelae may be compared.

Key Words: mother-infant interaction • neonate • olfaction • learning

Submitted on September 15, 1989
Accepted on June 26, 1990




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