Comparing taste-elicited behaviors in adult and neonatal rats

Both rat pup and adult emit discriminative responses to taste stimuli. Similarities and differences in taste-elicited behaviors exist, yet it is too early to fully compare pup and adult behavior, since much data remains to be collected. We have proposed a set of criteria which permit a comparison of the neural substrates of taste-elicited behaviors common to both pup and adult. Application of these criteria to existing data reveal that some components of the adult response to tastes are indeed present in the pup. However, if these criteria are to shed light on the neural organization of taste-elicited behavior, tests and measures must be made more comparable, and it is our hope that these criteria will guide further experimentation.