The laboratory emphasizes the utility and need to investigate the integration and control of behavioral systems during developmentally formative stages. A common theme in developmental research is the importance of early events in shaping the course of ontogeny. As technological and conceptual tools have become available, psychobiologists and developmental neurobiologists have identified effects of early experience on motor, sensory and cognitive development in younger animals. This research has documented well-developed behavioral capacities in newborn mammals. To understand the processes that direct early behavioral development and give rise to the sophisticated behavioral capacities of newborn mammals, it is essential to begin inquiry at the time when ontogenetic trajectories are initiated - during the prenatal period.
Fetal study offers distinct advantages for developmental research.
Measurement of neonatal motor and sensory abilities necessitates separation of the pup from maternal behavior, which isolates the pup from a primary source of its physiological homeostasis. The fetus also is dependent on the mother for life support, but does not require active behavioral care by the mother. For this reason, the fetus may be studied in experimental preparations that prevent active interference by the mother while preserving the life support system that sustains the fetus. Access to the relatively simpler nervous system of the fetus facilitates the study of behavioral control by neural systems that are just becoming functional. The prenatal period thus provides a unique testing ground for investigating the control and development of behavior patterns that become functionally important after birth.