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The behavioral response to novelty is altered in rats neonatally exposed to cocaine
Author(s) -
Willford Jennifer A.,
Segar Tracy M.,
Barron Susan
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(199912)35:4<343::aid-dev8>3.0.co;2-e
Subject(s) - odor , novelty , open field , offspring , in utero , physiology , psychology , neophobia , analysis of variance , environmental enrichment , prenatal cocaine exposure , developmental psychology , medicine , prenatal exposure , pregnancy , fetus , neuroscience , biology , psychiatry , social psychology , genetics
It has recently been suggested that the effects of in utero cocaine exposure may result in subtle deficits related to a challenging environment, including exposure to novelty or stress. This study used a neonatal drug‐exposure model to examine the behavioral response to a novel environment in rodents. Subjects were artificially reared (AR) from postnatal Days 4–10. There were four treatment groups; AR 40 mg/kg/day cocaine, AR 20 mg/kg/day cocaine, AR control group receiving no drug, and a normally reared control. In Experiment 1, subjects were tested for their preference of maternal home‐cage or clean wood‐chip odors in a T‐maze on postnatal Day 15. Subjects from all treatment groups preferred the maternal odor. In Experiment 2, subjects were habituated to four familiar odors and tested with a novel odor in an open field (postnatal Days 16–21). Neonatal exposure to 20 mg/kg/day cocaine led to an overall increase in exploratory behavior during testing, whereas 40 mg/kg/day did not, supporting the hypothesis that developmental exposure to cocaine at some doses may alter the offspring's response to a changing environment. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 35: 343–351, 1999