Relationship between cardiac rate and nonnutritive sucking in human infants.

Abstract
High levels of heart rate were associated with increased likelihood of "spontaneous" nonnutritive sucking. More important, nonnutritive sucking was anticipated by a rise in heart rate. Anticipatory cardiac rate changes are involved in a variety of apprently spontaneous activities in several vertebrate species. Relationship between anticipatory cardio-acceleration and sucking seems relevant to studies of infantile auditory sensitivity involving nonnutritive sucking as response measure, as well as studies of conditioned sucking.

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