Effects of parental environment on the prevalence of convulsive seizures in Onychomys torridus.
Male and female southern grasshopper mice (Onychomys torridus) were reared in 1 of 3 different parental environments: (a) with the natural male and female parents; (b) with the female parent only; or (c) with foster parents of a closely related species, Peromyscus leucopus. All mice were weaned at 25 days of age, then observed individually in an open field arena at 10-day intervals from 30 to 100 days of age. Twenty-seven of 59 subjects (45.8%) that were reared by the natural parents exhibited convulsive seizures during at least 1 of the 8 tests in the open field arena. The prevalence of convulsive seizures increased significantly in subjects that received altered parental care: 27 of 41 subjects (65.9%) reared by the female parent only or by Peromyscus foster parents seized during at least 1 of the 8 tests in the open field. Subjects from the 3 treatment groups did not differ in the mean number of seizures observed during the 8 open field tests. These results demonstrate a significant influence of the preweaning parental environment on the prevalence of convulsive seizures on Onychomys torridus.
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010290:Parents; D011930:Reaction Time; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013045:Species Specificity; D014886:Weaning