Increased anxiety-like behavior but no cognitive impairments in adult rats exposed to constant light conditions during perinatal development
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BACKGROUND: Shift-work is suggested to affect fetal development negatively. In particular, maternal hormonal disturbance arising from sleep deprivation or circadian rhythm changes may disturb fetal growth or lead to complications during pregnancy. Exposure to constant light is an environmental stressor that can affect the circadian system and has been shown to induce neurochemical and behavioral changes when used during the prenatal and/or postnatal period in experimental animals. However, studies investigating long-term effects of constant light in the offspring are sparse. METHODS: An accidental power outage resulted in pregnant females being housed under constant light (LL) conditions for seven days of the offspring perinatal development (embryonic day 20 to postnatal day 4). The long-term effects of constant light on the behavior in the adult offspring were assessed by means of open field, object recognition, and water maze tests. RESULTS: In adulthood, LL-animals displayed an intact recognition memory and no deficits in spatial learning or memory. In the open field test, LL-animals exhibited higher anxiety-like behavior, observed as significantly more thigmotaxis and less ambulation. These results were confirmed in the other behavioral tests as the LL-animals spent less time exploring the objects in the object recognition test, and showed thigmotactic behavior also in the water maze test. CONCLUSION: The results confirm that early life experience can cause changes in brain development that shape brain function and add to the sparse literature on long-term effects of constant light conditions during perinatal development on specific behaviors in adulthood.
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Exposing pregnant mice and rats to constant light produces lasting increases in anxiety-like behavior.
“In previous studies, exposing pregnant mice and rats to constant light produced lasting increases in anxiety-like behavior13–15, with mixed results in learning tasks14–16 and associated hippocampal functions15, 16.”
From Maternal and Early-Life Circadian Disruption Have Long-Lasting Negative Consequences on Offspring Development and Adult Behavior in Mice (2017) · cites this paper as [14]
Exposing pregnant mice and rats to constant light produces mixed results in learning tasks and associated hippocampal functions.
“In previous studies, exposing pregnant mice and rats to constant light produced lasting increases in anxiety-like behavior13–15, with mixed results in learning tasks14–16 and associated hippocampal functions15, 16.”
From Maternal and Early-Life Circadian Disruption Have Long-Lasting Negative Consequences on Offspring Development and Adult Behavior in Mice (2017) · cites this paper as [14]
We did not observe learning deficits in DCCD offspring.
“Notably, we did not observe learning deficits in DCCD offspring, consistent with some earlier reports e.g., ref. 14.”
From Maternal and Early-Life Circadian Disruption Have Long-Lasting Negative Consequences on Offspring Development and Adult Behavior in Mice (2017) · cites this paper as [14]
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References 21 · Cited by 34
- Authors
- Roman, E., & Karlsson, O.
- Affiliations
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Karlsson, Oskar
- Venue
- Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences
- Publisher
- Uppsala Medical Society
- Published
- 2013-08
- Volume
- 118
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 222-227
- ISSN
- 0300-9734 (ISSN-L)
- 2000-1967
- PMC
- PMC4190892
- OpenAlex
- W1966847788
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 0.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Svenska Sällskapet för Medicinsk Forskning
- Uppsala Universitet
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- continuous light exposure, perinatal development, anxiety-like behavior, thigmotaxis, recognition memory, spatial learning and memory, early life experience, circadian rhythm disruption, maternal sleep deprivation, offspring behavior, power outages
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animals, Newborn, Anxiety, Behavior, Animal, Brain, Circadian Rhythm, Cognition Disorders, Disease Models, Animal, Female, Light, Male, Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Animal, Rats, Wistar, Maze Learning, Maternal Exposure, Rats
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