Effects of maternal care on the development, emotionality, and reproductive functions in male and female rats

Abstract

Variations in maternal behavior induce long-lasting effects on behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to stress. The aim of this study was to analyze developmental parameters, reproductive function, and anxiety-related behaviors of male and female rats raised by mothers that naturally display high and low levels of maternal licking behavior. Results showed that an increase in licking behavior received by the pups accelerated their eye opening and reduced fear behavior assessed in the open field test. Additionally, female offspring of high licking (HL) mothers showed decreased ovulation and lordosis intensity. In contrast, males from HL and low licking (LL) mothers did not differ in their reproductive function, suggesting a gender difference in maternal effects. Present results showed that individual differences in maternal behavior appear not only to be predictive of later emotionality and stress-responsivity in the offspring, but can also modulate the reproductive function of females. Maternal genetic factors, differences in the prenatal intrauterine milieu, or a combination of these cannot be excluded to explain the effects observed.

Effects of litter‐overlapping on emotionality, stress response, and reproductive functions in male and female rats

“…Moreover, no differences were detected in daily sperm production and maturation or in epididymal sperm storage capacity and epididymal transit. In the same line, we have previously shown that natural variations in maternal care long-term affect the reproductive function of female offspring without affecting male sexual behavior or sperm production (Uriarte et al, 2007). These results taken together with present findings show that, changes in early social environment affect both reproductive and stress endocrine responses only in females.…”

“…The decreased behavioral inhibition exhibited by adult OR male and female rats compared to SR ones supports previous findings showing that early rearing environment can modulate neural systems controlling emotionality (Fernandez-Teruel, Escorihuela, Castellano, Gonzalez, & Tobena, 1997;Uriarte et al, 2007). We have previously shown that the licking behavior received by the pups from the mother decreased in the overlapped rearing condition and that this deficit was overridden by the licking provided by juvenile siblings in terms of quantity (Uriarte et al, 2008).…”

“…This altered pattern of sensory stimulation received by OR newborns may be responsible for their modified emotionality during adulthood. Indeed, it has been shown that natural differences in maternal stimulation affect the development of the young and induce long-term changes in their affective behavior (Caldji et al, 1998;Liu et al, 1997;Menard, Champagne, & Meaney, 2004;Uriarte et al, 2007). In addition, changes in licking received by the pups could modify neural circuits associated with fear, leading to less fearful animals in adulthood (Menard et al, 2004).…”

“…As early-life environment exerts long-term influences on rodents' brain, behavior and reproductive functions (Benetti, Andrade de Araujo, Sanvitto, & Lucion, 2007;Branchi & Alleva, 2006;Caldji et al, 1998;Laviola & Terranova, 1998;Uriarte, Breigeiron, Benetti, Rosa, & Lucion, 2007), we hypothesized that the altered pattern of sensory stimulation received by pups reared in overlapped litters can modify their emotionality, stress response and reproductive functions in adulthood. Therefore, the present study aimed to characterize the anxiety-like behavior in an open field test, the endocrine stress response to an acute stressor, and the reproductive function and sexual behavior of adult male and female rats reared in overlapped litters.…”

Intergenerational transmission of sociality: the role of parents in shaping social behavior in monogamous and non-monogamous species

“…Female offspring reared by high licking/grooming dams display a later onset of puberty and decreased levels of sexual receptivity (Cameron et al, 2008a,b;Uriarte et al, 2007) compared with low licking/grooming female offspring. Given a choice, males are also less likely to choose a high licking/grooming female to mate with compared with a low licking/grooming female (Sakhai et al, 2011).…”