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Variability in “spontaneous” maternal behavior is associated with anxiety‐like behavior and affiliation in Naïve juvenile and adult female prairie voles ( Microtus ochrogaster )
Author(s) -
Olazábal Daniel E.,
Young Larry J.
Publication year - 2005
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.20077
Subject(s) - juvenile , microtus , prairie vole , open field , psychology , anxiety , arvicolinae , developmental psychology , adult male , zoology , endocrinology , biology , ecology , psychiatry
Abstract Juvenile female prairie voles ( Microtus ochrogaster ) are spontaneously maternal, while virgin adult females show significant variability in their response to first pup exposure, ranging from infanticidal to full maternal behavior. In the present study, we investigated whether differences in anxiety‐like behavior and affiliation are associated with juvenile‐adult and adult individual differences in the response to pups. Forty juvenile (19–20 days) and 42 adult (60–90 days) female prairie voles were exposed to pups for the first time and tested for maternal behavior, anxiety‐like behavior (elevated plus maze, open field), and affiliation toward age‐matched, same sex conspecifics. Juveniles displayed less anxiety‐like behavior, were more affiliative to unfamiliar conspecifics, and interacted with pups more positively than adults. Adults that displayed maternal behavior spent less time immobile, made more crosses through the center of the open field arena, and were more affiliative than adults that attacked the pups. This suggests that lower locomotion or exploration in a novel environment and poor affiliative behavior are negatively associated with maternal responsiveness in female prairie voles. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 47: 166–178, 2005.