Single, intense prenatal stress decreases emotionality and enhances learning performance in the adolescent rat offspring: Interaction with a brief, daily maternal separation

• Published in: Behavioural brain research Vol. 169; no. 1; pp. 128 - 136
• Main Authors: Cannizzaro, Carla, Plescia, Fulvio, Martire, Maria, Gagliano, Mauro, Cannizzaro, Gaspare, Mantia, Giacoma, Cannizzaro, Emanuele
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier B.V 25.04.2006; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological - physiology; Adolescent rat; Affectivity. Emotion; Age Factors; Analysis of Variance; Animal; Animals; Anxiety - blood; Anxiety - physiopathology; Behaviour; Biological and medical sciences; Corticosterone; Corticosterone - blood; Discrimination Learning - physiology; Exploratory Behavior - physiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Learning; Learning. Memory; Male; Maternal Deprivation; Maternal separation; Personality. Affectivity; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - physiopathology; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - psychology; Prenatal stress; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Random Allocation; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Statistics, Nonparametric; Stress, Psychological - blood; Stress, Psychological - physiopathology; Adolescent rat; Maternal separation; Behaviour; Corticosterone; Prenatal stress; Affect affectivity; Embryonic development; Physical performance; Rat; Interaction; Rodentia; Emotion emotionality; Stress; Learning; Prenatal; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Acquisition process; Mother young relation; Newborn animal; Animal
• ISSN: 0166-4328; 1872-7549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2005.12.010

Perinatal manipulations can lead to neurobehavioural changes in the progeny. In this study we investigated, in adolescent male rat offspring, the consequences of a single, intense prenatal stress induced by a 120 min-maternal immobilization at gestational day 16, and of a daily, brief maternal separation from postnatal day 2 until 21, on: unconditioned fear/anxiety-like behaviour in open field and in elevated plus-maze; learning performance in the “Can test”, a non-aversive spatial and tactile/visual task; corticosterone plasma levels under basal and stress-induced conditions. Our results indicate that both prenatal stress and maternal separation procedures decrease emotionality and enhance learning performance. Maternal separation potentiates prenatal stress-induced effects in enhancing learning performance. Both basal and stress-induced corticosterone plasma levels are reduced following prenatal stress, maternal separation and the combination of two procedures. These findings suggest that a single, intense prenatal stress can enhance the adaptive stress-related responses in the progeny, probably due to the involvement of maternal factors. The synergistic effect of prenatal stress and maternal separation on learning performance may be due to a further damping of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis response in the progeny that better cope with the task administered.