MEDIA, Pa. -- While earning her bachelor's degree in biology from the Brandywine campus, 2016 Penn State graduate Vyshnavi Nalluri embraced the opportunity to engage in research with Assistant Professor of Psychology Valerie Mendez-Gallardo. The experience Nalluri gained will stand her in good stead for life after Penn State Brandywine.
Her study, titled "Crawling Locomotion in the Newborn Rat After Exposure to the Odor of Amniotic Fluid and Milk," is a continuation of postdoctoral research started by Mendez-Gallardo at Idaho State University that looks to better understand the early development of locomotion.
“This project has a lot to do with my research interests in general, which are learning about prenatal and early postnatal behavioral development,” Mendez-Gallardo said. “I investigate what happens right before birth and how that relates to early postnatal development.”
During the study, newborn rat pups were placed prone on a glass surface and then exposed to the odor of amniotic fluid and milk. From underneath the glass, a video camera captured the rat pups’ locomotion. Nalluri then studied the video footage and characterized the newborn rats’ every move when reacting to the odors. Results showed that all newborn pups expressed crawling behaviors when exposed to the odors.