Open AccessCocaine treatment and prenatal environment interact to disrupt intergenerational maternal behavior in rats.
Author(s) -
Josephine M. Johns,
Deborah L. Elliott,
Vivian E. Hofler,
Paul Joyner,
Matthew S. McMurray,
Thomas M. Jarrett,
Amber Haslup,
Christopher Middleton,
Jay C. Elliott,
Cheryl H. Walker
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
behavioral neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1939-0084
pISSN - 0735-7044
DOI - 10.1037/0735-7044.119.6.1605
Subject(s) - offspring , litter , gestation , maternal deprivation , saline , psychology , pregnancy , prenatal exposure , endocrinology , physiology , medicine , developmental psychology , biology , ecology , genetics
The link between impaired maternal behavior (MB) and cocaine treatment could result from drug-induced decreases in maternal reactivity to offspring, prenatal drug exposure (PDE) in offspring that could alter their ability to elicit MB, or the interaction of both, which could subsequently impair MB of the 1st-generation dams. Following chronic or intermittent cocaine or saline treatment during gestation, rat dams rearing natural or cross-fostered litters were compared along with untreated dams for MB. Untreated 1st-generation females with differentially treated rearing dams and PDE were tested for MB with their natural litters. The authors report disruptions in MB in dams and their 1st-generation offspring, attributable to main and interaction effects of maternal treatment, litter PDE, and rearing experience.