Premium
Play is indispensable for an adequate development of coping with social challenges in the rat
Author(s) -
van den Berg C. L.,
Hol T.,
Van Ree J. M.,
Spruijt B. M.,
Everts H.,
Koolhaas J. M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199903)34:2<129::aid-dev6>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - aggression , psychology , juvenile , developmental psychology , social isolation , social behavior , social deprivation , corticosterone , social relation , physiology , medicine , social psychology , psychiatry , biology , ecology , hormone , economics , economic growth
In this study, young rats were deprived of early social interactions during weeks 4 and 5 of life. Different behavioral tests were conducted in adulthood to study the behavioral responses of rats lacking early social experiences. Juvenile deprivation resulted in decreased social activity and an altered sexual pattern, but did not affect locomotor activity or the performance in the elevated plus maze. Furthermore, behavioral and neuroendocrine responses of juvenile isolated rats were dramatically altered when they were confronted with territorial aggression. Juvenile deprived rats did not readily display a submissive posture in response to the resident and showed no immobility behavior after being returned to the resident's territory, while their plasma corticosterone and adrenaline concentrations were significantly increased compared to nonisolated controls. In contrast, behavioral responses in the shock prod test were not affected by previous isolation. The results suggest that early social experiences are vital for interactions with conspecifics later in life, i.e., aggression, sexual, and social interactions. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 34: 129–138, 1999