The effects of prenatal stress on learning in rats in a Morris maze.
The offspring of female Wistar rats subjected to daily stress (they were placed in an unfamiliar social group for 1 h) during the last third of pregnancy were studied. The offspring of these females were tested for the ability to perform spatial orientation in a Morris water maze at the ages of two and four months. Prenatal stress had no effect on the ability of rats to learn in the Morris maze. However, two-month-old animals subjected to prenatal stress, unlike controls, demonstrated less flexibility in their behavioral strategy in solving the spatial orientation task. These animals were characterized by a clear tendency for their behavior to perseverate. By the age of four months, the differences between the control and prenatally stressed animals had disappeared.
Aleksandrov
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Department of Higher Nervous Activity and Psychophysiology, St. Petersburg State University, Russia.
Polyakova
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ON
Batuev
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D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*