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Maternal regulation of adrenocortical activity in the infant rat: Effects of feeding
Author(s) -
Rosenfeld Patricia,
Ekstrand Jeffrey,
Olson Emily,
Suchecki Deborah,
Levine Seymour
Publication year - 1993
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.420260504
Subject(s) - endocrinology , psychology , developmental psychology , medicine , physiology , biology
Basal and stress‐induced corticosterone release in the infant rat has been shown to be inhibited by some aspect of maternal care. The following studies examined specific maternal cues that might be responsible for this regulation. In Experiments 1 and 2, 12‐day‐old pups remained with their dam but were either prevented or not from feeding; at the end of 24 hr, basal and stress‐induced corticosterone levels were measured. Only those animals that were able to feed showed the hyporesponsiveness characteristic of nondeprived animals, suggesting that feeding rather than some other aspect of maternal care was the critical variable. In Experiment 3, all animals were maternally deprived, and some of them were fed via an intracheek cannula. Once again, feeding led to a pronounced diminution in both basal and stress‐induced levels of corticosterone. Our results point to feeding as one of the critical features responsible for the inhibitory effect of the dam on the infant's adrenocortical activity. © 1993 Wiley & sons. Inc.