Postural development in rats

Mammals adopt a limited number of postures during their day-to-day activities. These stereotyped skeletal configurations are functionally adequate and limit the number of degrees of freedom to be controlled by the central nervous system. The temporal pattern of emergence of these configurations in altricial mammals is unknown. We therefore carried out an X-ray study in unrestrained rats from birth (P0) until postnatal day 23 (P23). The X-rays showed that many of the skeletal configurations described in adult rodents were already present at birth. By contrast, limb placement changed abruptly at around P10. These skeletal configurations, observed in anesthetized pups, required the maintenance of precise motor control. On the other hand, motor control continued to mature, as shown by progressive changes in resting posture and head movements from P0 to P23. We suggest that a few innate skeletal configurations provide the necessary frames of reference for the gradual construction of an adult motor repertoire in altricial mammals, such as the rat. The apparent absence of a requirement for external sensorial cues in the maturation of this repertoire may account for the maturation of postural and motor control in utero in precocial mammals (Muir et al., 2000 for a review on the locomotor behavior of altricial and precocial animals).