CHANGES DURING PREGNANCY OF SELF-LICKING BY PREGNANT AND ESTROUS-CYCLING FEMALE RATS, AT 2 NONCRITICAL BODY REGIONS (HEAD-FOREPAWS AND SHOULDERS-UPPER BACK) AND 3 CRITICAL BODY REGIONS (NIPPLE LINES, GENITALS, AND PELVIS), WERE OBSERVED. SELF-LICKING OF NONCRITICAL REGIONS DECREASED AFTER EARLY PREGNANCY AS A RESULT OF DECLINES IN DURATION AND FREQUENCY OF LICKING OF THESE REGIONS, WHILE LICKING OF CRITICAL BODY REGIONS INCREASED AS A RESULT OF INCREASED DURATION OF LICKING OF THESE REGIONS. AS PREGNANCY ADVANCED LICKING SEQUENCES WERE MORE FREQUENTLY EXTENDED INTO CRITICAL BODY REGIONS AND FEMALES TURNED DIRECTLY TO THESE REGIONS AND LICKED THEM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)