DEVELOPMENT OF FEEDING PARALLELS ITS RECOVERY AFTER HYPOTHALAMIC DAMAGE

The sequence of stages of recovery from the lateral hypothalamic syndrome seen in the adult rat is an exact parallel to the stages of development of feeding in the newborn rat. By slowing down the process of development, using surgical thyroidectomy in 48 1-2 day old rat pups, one finds at weaning (21 days of age) that all rats can be unambiguously classified into 1 of the 4 stages of recovery from lateral hypothalamic damage. Some rats showed an orderly progression over time from 1 stage to the next. These results suggest that there is a general parallel between recovery and development of the nervous system and behavior. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.