The behaviour of immature and mature rats exposed prenatally to anti-ganglioside antibodies.
Three behavioural experiments were carried out in rats born to mothers injected with anti-ganglioside antibodies between days 16 and 19 of their pregnancies. Immature animals were slower to habituate to an open-field arena and took longer to learn sequence maze when no cues were provided than did offspring of mothers who had received normal serum. The latter difference disappeared when the way through the maze was cued. In a third experiment mature rats, exposed prenatally to the antibody, showed superior adaptation on a visual discrimination task compared to their controls. It was concluded that antiganglioside modifies sensory rather than motor mechanisms in the rat.
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000276:immunology*; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D009043:Motor Activity; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats
D000906:Antibodies; D005732:Gangliosides