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Early weaning decreases play‐fighting behavior during the postweaning developmental period of wistar rats
Author(s) -
Shimozuru Michito,
Kodama Yuka,
Iwasa Takashi,
Kikusui Takefumi,
Takeuchi Yukari,
Mori Yuji
Publication year - 2007
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.20202
Subject(s) - weaning , psychology , period (music) , developmental psychology , anxiety , physiology , maternal deprivation , zoology , biology , psychiatry , physics , acoustics
Abstract We examined the influence of early weaning on the development of play‐fighting behaviors and anxiety status in Wistar rats. Pups were divided into two groups, those weaned at postnatal day (PD) 16 (early‐weaned group) and those weaned at PD30 (normally weaned group), and were housed in pairs of the same sex. Playful interactions were measured for each pair once a week from 4 to 7 weeks of age. Thereafter, during early adulthood, all the rats were subjected to the elevated plus‐maze test. The frequencies of pinning and playful attack were less in the early‐weaned group than in the normally weaned group. In the elevated plus‐maze test, rat pups in the early‐weaned group had higher anxiety levels. The results showed that deprivation of mother–pup interactions during the preweaning period decreases affiliative interactions between cage mates, including play‐fighting behaviors during the postweaning developmental period, and increases anxiety levels during early adulthood. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 49: 343–350, 2007.