Maternal behavior priming in virgin and caesarean-delivered Long-Evans rats: effects of brief contact or continuous exteroceptive pup stimulation.
The effects of 8 days of prior exposure to pups (Priming) in the form of continuous exteroceptive (smell, sight and sound), or 15 min/day physical access (taste and touch possible) stimulation on the subsequent latency to become maternal during cohabitation with pups (concaveation) was studied in Long-Evans female rats. Brief daily access was effective in hastening the onset of maternal behavior only in those virgins which engaged in pup licking during Priming and in maintaining short-latency maternal responsiveness only in those day 21 pregnancy-terminated, thelectomized rats which initiated maternal behavior during Priming. Exteroceptive stimulation was ineffective in both virgins and caesarean-sectioned rats. These findings stress the importance of physical interactions with pups (unrelated to nipple stimulation) for the development of nurturance.
D000818:Animals; D002585:Cesarean Section; D005260:Female; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal; D051381:Rats; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology; D012931:Social Environment; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology