Neurobehavioral consequences of early mother-pup separations in mother rats

AGUGGIA, J.P.; SÁREZ, M.M.; RIVAROLA, M.A.

Huerta Grande, Córdoba.

Congreso; XXVII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias.; 2012

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias.

Separation of pups from the dam may evoke emotional stress in the dam. In the present study we investigated whether prolonged maternal separation (MS) is stressful for rat dams by studying parameters known to be affected by long-term stress. After delivery, female Wistar rats were subjected to either animal facility rearing conditions or daily 4,5h of MS from postpartum day (PPD) 1-21. Maternal care (pup retrieval) was evaluated at PPD 3, 6 and 9. After weaning, anxiety (elevated plus maze) and depression-like behaviors (forced swimming test) were assessed. Memory abilities (one-trial step down inhibitory avoidance) were tested either 1h or 24h after training session. Finally, c-Fos expression was examined in the amygdala. The results revealed that MS impaired pup retrieval efficiency at PPD3. Furthermore, MS increased anxiety-like behaviors and yielded high c-Fos expression in the central nucleus of the amygdala. Although there were no differences in depression-related behavior, a deleterious effect in memory retention was observed. Together this data indicates that repeated MS in the postpartum period reduce maternal care, increase anxiety and induce a reduction in the retention memory, providing further evidence for the detrimental behavioral effects of separation in dams.