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Absence of behavioral deficits following neonatal undernutrition in the rat
Author(s) -
Slob A. Koos,
Snow Catherine E.,
de NatrisMathot Els
Publication year - 1973
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.420060212
Subject(s) - malnutrition , maternal deprivation , open field , litter , psychology , developmental psychology , privation , social deprivation , physiology , medicine , biology , neuroscience , psychiatry , cognition , sleep deprivation , ecology , economics , economic growth
Previous studies of the effects of early undernutrition on behavior in adult rats have confounded underfeeding with maternal deprivation or membership in a large litter. In the present experiment food‐deprived rats received full‐time maternal care and lived in the same‐sized litters as well‐fed controls. In contrast to previous findings food‐deprived animals in the present study did not differ from controls in the open‐field test, in a test of motor coordination, and in 2 learning tasks. However, food‐deprived animals were more active than controls in a residential plus maze. Females showed less effect of food deprivation on body growth, but a much greater effect on activity, than males. These findings suggest that early undernutrition when not confounded with social and maternal deprivation may have more restricted effects on adult behavior than has been previously believed.