The Maternal Separation Paradigm and Adult Emotionality and Cognition in Male and Female Wistar Rats
Abstract
A single 24-h maternal separation (MS) in the rat during the stress hyporesponsive period alters adult behavior and neuroendocrine stress response. The age of the animal at MS might be a crucial factor for effects in adulthood. We report here on adult behavioral effects of MS performed on postnatal day 4 (MS4), 9 (MS9), or 18 (MS18) in male and female Wistar rats. Unrelated subjects were used to avoid confounding litter effects. Subjects were tested on paradigms of unconditioned fear/anxiety, i.e., open field and elevated plus-maze, and on paradigms involving learning in an aversive situation, i.e., conditioned freezing, active avoidance, and water maze. In line with our predictions we obtained (a) sex differences that were consistent with enhanced fear/anxiety in males relative to females, (b) evidence that MS4 yielded deficits in active avoidance learning and conditioned freezing (trend level), whereas MS9 yielded enhanced active avoidance and water maze learning, (c) evidence (at trend level) that these effects of MS are greater in males than in females. There was no evidence for an effect of MS on paradigms of unconditioned fear/anxiety. We conclude that MS, irrespective of the age at separation, does not provide a robust environmental model of modified behavior in aversive situations.
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Maternal separation tends to elicit higher anxiety-like behaviors in male offspring compared with females.
“Additionally, sex differences should also be taken into consideration as it has been reported that maternal separation tends to illicit higher anxiety-like behaviors in male offspring compared with females (Lehmann et al., 1999).”
From The Epigenetics of Anxiety Pathophysiology: A DNA Methylation and Histone Modification Focused Review (2023) · cites this paper as Lehmann et al., 1999
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“Additionally, sex differences should also be taken into consideration as it has been reported that maternal separation tends to illicit higher anxiety-like behaviors in male offspring compared with females (Lehmann et al., 1999).”
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- Authors
- Lehmann, J., Pryce, C. R., Bettschen, D., & Feldon, J.
- Affiliations
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Feldon, J
- ORCID
- Pryce, C.R
- Venue
- Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1999-12
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 705-715
- ISSN
- 0091-3057 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2044364684
- Cited by
- 260
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 2.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Keywords
- maternal separation, early life stress, sex differences, anxiety, fear, active avoidance, water maze learning, conditioned freezing, adult behavior, Wistar rats
- MeSH terms
- Analysis of Variance, Animals, Avoidance Learning, Cognition, Conditioning, Psychological, Emotions, Female, Male, Maternal Deprivation, Motor Activity, Sex Characteristics, Weaning, Rats, Wistar, Maze Learning, Rats
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