title: Repeated long separations from pups produce depression-like behavior in rat mothers.
abstract: Long maternal (LMS) versus brief maternal (BMS) daily separations of rat pups from their mothers have contrasting effects on their adult stress responses and maternal behavior by, respectively, decreasing and increasing licking received from their mothers. We hypothesized that LMS decreases pup-licking in mothers by inducing learned helplessness, creating a depression-like state. We subjected postpartum rats to LMS (3 h), BMS (15 min) or no separation (NMS) on postpartum days 2-14. After weaning, mothers were given a forced swim test (FST). LMS mothers exhibited more immobility and fewer escape attempts than BMS or NMS mothers. These results suggest that LMS induces a depression-like state, which may account for the reductions in maternal behavior seen in LMS mothers. Immobility in the FST is recognized as an animal model of depression. Therefore, LMS may be a model of maternal depression.
authors.affiliation: FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8185, USA. Maria_Boccia@unc.edu
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Boccia
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Razzoli
authors.forename: Sivaram Prasad
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Vadlamudi
authors.forename: Whit
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Trumbull
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caleffie
authors.forename: Cort A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Pedersen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006380:Helplessness, Learned; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D009043:Motor Activity; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D013550:Swimming