Behavioral habituation and sensitization

Abstract

This work presents a critical review of behavioral habituation and sensitization. Habituation is defined as the waning of the response as a result of monotonous stimulation. The consistent occurrence of the increments led researchers to hypothesize an incremental subjacent process, called sensitization. Given that usually the only behavior measured is the response to the stimulus, it is not possible, at the behavioral level, to evaluate each process separately. To add to the difficulties, in experiments with intact animals, which are usual in animal behavior studies, other changes make analysis even more complex.