Development of habituation to novel environments in the rat.

Abstract

Studied habituation of investigatory head poking in 15, 25, and 84-174 day old Sprague-Dawley albino rats. Rate of habituation was inversely related to age, and this relationship was unaffected by the introduction of response-contingent novel illumination. These data are in accord with other evidence for the course of development of a cholinergic inhibitory mechanism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)