Trigeminal lesions and maternal behavior in Norway rats: II. Disruption of parturition.
Profound deficits in maternal behavior occur following postpartum bilateral infraorbital denervation (IO-X), with substantial recovery 12-24 h later. In the present experiment, primiparous rats were subjected to IO-X or sham surgery on gestation day 22. Whereas parturition behavior was normal in controls, it was severely disrupted in all IO-X dams. Impairments included absent, abbreviated, or delayed perioral behaviors-nest building, participation in delivery, placentophagia, licking and retrieval of pups-accompanied by increased general activity and delayed onset of nursing. There was increased mortality in the litters of IO-X dams at birth and by postpartum day (PD) 3, and impaired retrieval by IO-X dams on PD1-3. A surgery-birth interval of < 7 h vs. > or = 22 h was associated only with poor litter growth. Thus, prepartum IO-X disrupts onset of maternal behavior during parturition, with long-term consequences for offspring well-being.
Stern
J M
JM
Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006120:Grooming / Q000502:physiology; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000502:physiology*; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology; D008098:Litter Size / Q000502:physiology; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D009425:Nesting Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D014276:Trigeminal Nerve / Q000502:physiology*