The amniotic sac as scaffolding: prenatal ontogeny of an action pattern

Intraoral lemon infusion elicits facial wiping behavior in fetal rats on Days 20 and 21 of gestation. On Day 19, fetuses tested in a warm saline bath respond to infusion but do not express the wiping response. In contrast, fetuses tested within the amniotic sac exhibit wiping. Fetal movements after infusion were analyzed on Days 19 and 20 in both the bath and amnion environments. Facial wiping is assembled from simpler components in both real time (during the 15 s after infusion) and developmental time (over Days 19-20 of gestation). In real time, the wiping response occurs following a brief period of fetal activity comprising head and forelimb movements. After the wiping bout is initiated, strokes by left and right forelimbs increase in duration and become synchronized. In developmental time, components of the wiping response (forelimb strokes) are consistently expressed on Day 19, but other components (head stabilization) are lacking when fetuses are tested in bath. The amniotic sac appears to provide scaffolding that reduces head movement and promotes paw-face contact, thus facilitating facial wiping.