title: Functional specificity in the modulation of novelty exposure effects by reliability of maternal care.
abstract: Using the within-litter neonatal novelty exposure procedure, we manipulated newborn pups' environmental novelty independently from natural variations in maternal care. To better translate animal models to human development studies, we introduce a measure for maternal care reliability. We examined how this reliability modulates novelty-exposure-induced effects on offspring cognitive, social, and emotional development and show that maternal care reliability acts in a function-specific manner. We discuss our results within the framework of a maternal reliability-based modulation model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States.
authors.forename: Bethany C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Reeb-Sutherland
authors.forename: Akaysha C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006234:Handling, Psychological; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012919:Social Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology