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Influence of parental deprivation on the behavioral development in Octodon degus : Modulation by maternal vocalizations
Author(s) -
Braun Katharina,
Kremz Petra,
Wetzel Wolfram,
Wagner Thomas,
Poeggel Gerd
Publication year - 2003
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/dev.10096
Subject(s) - open field , psychology , stimulus (psychology) , maternal deprivation , developmental psychology , audiology , neuroscience , cognitive psychology , medicine , psychiatry
Repeated separation from the family during very early stages of life is a stressful emotional experience which induces a variety of neuronal and synaptic changes in limbic cortical areas that may be related to behavioral alterations. First, we investigated whether repeated parental separation and handling, without separation from the family, leads to altered spontaneous exploratory behavior in a novel environment (open field test) in 8‐day‐old Octodon degus . Second, we tested whether the parentally deprived and handled animals display different stimulus‐evoked exploratory behaviors in a modified open field version, in which a positive emotional stimulus, the maternal call, was presented. In the open field test a significant influence of previous emotional experience was found for the parameters of running, rearing, and vocalization. Parentally deprived degus displayed increased horizontal (running) and vertical (rearing) motoric activities, but decreased vocalization, compared to normal and handled controls. The presentation of maternal vocalizations significantly modified running, vocalization, and grooming activities, which in the case of running activity was dependent on previous emotional experience. Both deprivation‐induced locomotor hyperactivity together with the reduced behavioral response towards a familiar acoustic emotional signal are similar to behavioral disturbances observed in human attachment disorders. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 42: 237–245, 2003.