title: Effects of an early handling-like procedure and individual housing on anxiety-like behavior in adult C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice.
abstract: Manipulations of rearing conditions have been used to examine the effects of early experience on adult behavior with varying results. Evidence suggests that postnatal days (PND) 15-21 are a time of particular susceptibility to environmental influences on anxiety-like behavior in mice. To examine this, we subjected C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice to an early handling-like procedure. Pups were separated from dams from PND 12-20 for 30 minutes daily or received standard care. On PND 21, pups were weaned and either individually- or group-housed. On PND 60, anxiety-like behavior was examined on the elevated zero-maze. Although individually-housed animals took longer to enter an open quadrant of the maze, they spent more time in the open than group-housed animals. Additionally, we observed a trend of reduced anxiety-like behavior in C57BL/6J, but not DBA/2J mice that underwent the handling-like procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America.
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Flanigan
authors.forename: Melloni N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Cook
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA