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Environmental and biologic interactions on behavior: Effects of artificial rearing in rat pups treated with 6‐hydroxydopamine
Author(s) -
Goldenring James R.,
Shaywitz Bennett A.,
Wool Robert S.,
Batter David K.,
Anderson George M.,
Cohen Donald J.
Publication year - 1982
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.420150403
Subject(s) - hydroxydopamine , oxidopamine , lesion , psychology , motor activity , environmental enrichment , developmental psychology , medicine , endocrinology , biology , neuroscience , dopamine , psychiatry , dopaminergic , substantia nigra
In order to examine the impact of social environment on the development of motor activity and cognitive performance in rat pups treated with 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA), we employed artificial rearing techniques pioneered by Hall. In contrast to 6‐OHDA‐treated mother‐reared pups which exhibit an increase in activity during their first postnatal month, 6‐OHDA‐treated artificially reared animals fail to demonstrate this hyperactivity. The absence of hyperactivity in 6‐OHDA‐treated artificially reared pups may reflect the absence of isolation‐induced motor activity at the beginning of the test period. Both mother‐reared and artificially reared 6‐OHDA pups demonstrated impairment in shock escape and shock avoidance, suggesting that these deficits in maze performance were influenced by an inherent biological lesion following 6‐OHDA treatment while motor activity may depend, to a considerable extent, on environmental manipulations.