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Cited by 91Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorStress Responses and CortisolAnimal Behavior and Reproduction

Within-litter variation in maternal care received by individual pups correlates with adolescent social play behavior in male rats.

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van Hasselt, F.N., Tieskens, J.M., Trezza, V., Krugers, H.J., Vanderschuren, L.J.M.J., Joëls, M.·2012·Physiology & Behavior
DOI 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.12.007
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Abstract

Maternal care represents an essential environmental factor during the first post-natal week(s) of rodents and is known to have lasting consequences for neuronal structure, brain function as well as behavioral outcome later in life, including social functions and reward-related processes. Previous experiments have shown that the amount of maternal care received by individual pups varies substantially, even within one litter. During adolescence, mammals display high levels of social play behavior, a rewarding form of social interaction that is of great importance for social and cognitive development. In order to investigate how maternal care influences adaptive social behavior later in life, we here examined whether individual differences in maternal licking and grooming (%LG) received during the first postnatal week affect social play behavior during adolescence. We observed that %LG received by male rats early in life correlates positively with the frequency and duration of pouncing and pinning, the two most characteristic behavioral expressions of social play behavior in rats. The latency to engage in social exploration also correlated with %LG. In female rats we observed no correlation between %LG and any social parameter. The data indicate that subtle variations in maternal care received early in life influence social interactions in male adolescent rats. These changes in social play likely have repercussions for the social development of male rats, suggesting that maternal care can have both direct and indirect effects on the behavioral development of the offspring.

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  • The motivation to play can be modified by early experiences mostly derived from the mother.

    “While the motivation to play can be modified by early experiences mostly derived from the mother (Parent and Meaney, 2008; Van Hasselt et al., 2012)”

    From The rough-and-tumble play of rats as a natural behavior suitable for studying the social brain (2022) · cites this paper as Van Hasselt et al., 2012

    The Discussion (page not provided) reports that maternal care predicts adolescent social play in male rats, and describes the play test as probing social motivation. But it found no such correlation in females and explicitly cautions that the correlation does not establish that maternal care causes play to develop. The claim omits those limits and presents modification by early experience more broadly. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • The amount of maternal care received in the first week of life positively correlates with the amount of social play behavior in adolescent male but not female rats.

    “Recently, our lab showed a positive correlation between the amount of maternal care received in the first week of life and the amount of social play behavior in adolescent male but not female rats (Van Hasselt et al., 2012)”

    From Effects of Maternal Deprivation and Complex Housing on Rat Social Behavior in Adolescence and Adulthood (2018) · cites this paper as Van Hasselt et al., 2012

  • Males receive more maternal care from their mothers compared to females.

    “One potential explanation is that males, compared to females, receive more maternal care from their mothers (Moore and Morelli, 1979; Van Hasselt et al., 2012).”

    From Effects of Maternal Deprivation and Complex Housing on Rat Social Behavior in Adolescence and Adulthood (2018) · cites this paper as Van Hasselt et al., 2012

  • Within-litter variation in maternal care received by individual pups correlates with adolescent social play behavior in male rats.

    “Interestingly, a previous study showed that within-litter variation in maternal care received by individual pups correlates with adolescent social play behavior in male rats70.”

    From Peripubertal stress increases play fighting at adolescence and modulates nucleus accumbens CB1 receptor expression and mitochondrial function in the amygdala (2018) · cites this paper as [70]

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Authors
van Hasselt, F. N., Tieskens, J. M., Trezza, V., Krugers, H. J., Vanderschuren, L. J. M. J., & Joëls, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Amsterdam (NL)
  • Roma Tre University (IT)
  • Utrecht University (NL)
  • University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
Corresponding author
  • Vanderschuren, L.J.M.J.
  • Joëls, M.
ORCID
Venue
Physiology & Behavior
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-07
Volume
106
Issue
5
Pages
701-706
ISSN
0031-9384 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.12.007
OpenAlex
W2157769065
Cited by
91
References
10
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 4
FWCI
5.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Physiology & Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Iris (Roma Tre University) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Human Frontiers Science Program (#RGP0039/2006)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
Keywords
maternal care, social play, adolescent rats, social exploration, sex differences, social development (developmental psychology), early life experience, behavioral development
MeSH terms
Animals, Animals, Newborn, Female, Grooming, Male, Maternal Behavior, Play and Playthings, Reward, Social Behavior, Rats, Long-Evans, Rats

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