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Cavigelli SA, McClintock MK. Fear of novelty in infant rats predicts adult corticosterone dynamics and an early death. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2003; 100:16131-6. [PMID: 14673078 PMCID: PMC307704 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2535721100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2003] [Accepted: 10/23/2003] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals who are fearful of novelty have a larger hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response than do nonfearful individuals. We hypothesized that a fearful behavioral style emerging early in life would be associated with life-long altered adrenal activity. Because there is ample physiological evidence both costs and benefits of adrenal activation, we determined whether such a stable emotional-neuroendocrine trait was associated with differential morbidity and mortality. To conduct such lifespan work, we studied a relatively short-lived mammal: the Norway rat. We first established that an animal's hesitation or willingness to explore a novel environment ("neophobia" and "neophilia," respectively) is an identifiable and stable behavioral trait in young-adult males and that neophobia, compared with neophilia, was associated with a greater glucocorticoid response to novelty. Second, we were able to detect behavioral differences among infant rats within a family, and this behavioral disposition at infancy predicted the magnitude of the glucocorticoid response in late middle age. Males identified as neophobic during infancy died sooner than their less fearful brothers. Although both types of males died with similar pathologies (tumors), neophobic males were 60% more likely to die at any point in time. This lifespan study identifies an emotional trait in infancy that predicts an early death and an associated neuroendocrine trait in adulthood that is a potential mechanism underlying the relationship between behavioral style and longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- S A Cavigelli
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Mind and Biology, University of Chicago, 940 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
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52
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Zehr JL, Gans SE, McClintock MK. Variation in reproductive traits is associated with short anogenital distance in female rats. Dev Psychobiol 2001; 38:229-38. [PMID: 11319729 DOI: 10.1002/dev.1017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Anogenital distance was used as a biomarker for natural variation in prenatal androgenization of female rats and was associated with individual differences in a suite of reproductive characteristics. Females with short anogenital distances were likely to have first vaginal estrus earlier than females with longer anogenital distances and to have first vaginal estrus on the same day as vaginal opening. In young adulthood, females with short anogenital distances had shorter ovarian cycles and less intense lordosis reflexes in response to manual palpation than those with longer anogenital distances, but only when living individually, not in groups. Taken together, these findings indicate that prenatal androgenization affects reproductive traits throughout the life span.
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Affiliation(s)
- J L Zehr
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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54
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Terranova ML, Loggi G, Chiarotti F, Laviola G. Attractivity and social preferences in mice (Mus musculus domesticus): the role of prepubertal sexual segregation and of precocious weaning. J Comp Psychol 2000; 114:325-34. [PMID: 11149536 DOI: 10.1037/0735-7036.114.4.325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Mice (Mus musculus domesticus) were raised (Postnatal Day 15 to 25) in single- or mixed-sex litters and precociously (Day 15) or regularly (Day 25) weaned. When they were faced as adults with a basic social choice--between two stimulus mice raised in litters of different sex composition but both of the same sex as the chooser--mice raised in mixed-sex litters were preferred. In the sociosexual choice-between a male and a female, both from the single- or the mixed-sex group--the opposite-sex preference was expressed. Both these preferences were abolished by the sexual segregation of the choosers. This variable hardly affected potential mate choice--between two stimulus mice both of the opposite sex of the chooser but raised in litters of different sex composition. Data indicate that socially mediated behavioral plasticity has a major role in the early shaping of adult individual differences both in attractive stimulus properties and in sociosexual preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Terranova
- Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
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55
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Slotnick B, Glover P, Bodyak N. Does intranasal application of zinc sulfate produce anosmia in the rat? Behav Neurosci 2000. [DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.114.4.814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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56
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González Jatuff AS, Berástegui M, Rodríguez CI, Rodríguez Echandía EL. Permanent and transient effects of repeated preweaning stress on social and sexual behaviors of rats. Stress 1999; 3:97-106. [PMID: 10938572 DOI: 10.3109/10253899909001115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We have reported that exposure of preweaning male and female rats to a model of unpredictable mild physical stressors (Neo-A) can decrease the behavioral and hormonal responses to acute and chronic stress as adults. In this paper we have analyzed the effect of Neo-A on development of social behaviors, including aggressiveness, social dominance, and sexual behavior in adulthood. The subjects were divided into two groups: Neo-A (daily exposed to unpredictable mild stresses- from day 2 up to day 15 of suckling; n = 30 litters) and controls (C) (undisturbed rats, except for testing, during the same period of life; n = 26 litters). When day 6 pups were submitted to a social clustering test the Neo-A group showed a higher rate of litter-mate clustering than C. The 35 days Neo-A males and Neo-A females submitted to a social behavior test after 24 h of social isolation also showed higher scores of time spent in active social interaction than controls, as well as a higher ratio of animals showing aggressive playing. A second social behavior test performed after 48 h of social isolation at days 75-80 of age revealed that only Neo-A females displayed increased social behavior and aggressive behaviors, whereas controls did not. A water competition test performed at 24 and 48 h after water deprivation showed that Neo-A adult males spent more time in possession of the drinking device and drank more frequently than C. When adult proestrous females were exposed to a sexual behavior test, the Neo-A group showed shorter latency and higher scores of lordosis quotient. These results support the view that exposure to this model of repeated mild stress early in life stimulates the development of social behavior, dominance and sexual behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- A S González Jatuff
- Behavioral Pharmacology Unit (UNIFCO), Cátedra de Farmacología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina
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57
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McCormick CM, Mahoney E. Persistent effects of prenatal, neonatal, or adult treatment with flutamide on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress response of adult male rats. Horm Behav 1999; 35:90-101. [PMID: 10049607 DOI: 10.1006/hbeh.1998.1500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
To explore the role of androgens in early development on adult hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function in males, we administered flutamide or vehicle injections: (1) to pregnant dams on embryonic days 15-20; (2) to neonatal pups on days 0-5; or (3) to adults on days 55-60. At approximately 70 days of age, trunk blood was collected to determine corticosterone levels (1) upon removal from the home cage, (2) immediately after 30 min of restraint stress, or (3) 60 min after return to home cage following the stressor. Flutamide treatment resulted in higher basal levels of testosterone and stress levels of corticosterone compared to vehicle treatment, and there was no interaction of treatment with age at time of treatment. This suggests that testosterone is less effective at inhibiting HPA function in flutamide-treated males. In addition, prenatally treated males had higher stress levels of corticosterone than neonatally and adult-treated males, regardless of the type of treatment. There were no differences in CBG levels among the groups. The results suggest that, in males, flutamide treatment has a long-lasting effect on HPA function. These results are consistent with our previous research on neonatally gonadectomized males and the hypothesis of organizational effects of sex hormones on HPA function.
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Affiliation(s)
- C M McCormick
- Neuroscience Program and Department of Psychology, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, 04240, USA
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58
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Laviola G, Terranova ML. The developmental psychobiology of behavioural plasticity in mice: the role of social experiences in the family unit. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 1999; 23:197-213. [PMID: 9884113 DOI: 10.1016/s0149-7634(98)00021-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Small perturbations of young animals' sensory experience or hormonal milieu have been shown to alter ontogenetic pathways and to potentially produce huge effects on CNS functioning and behaviour later in life. From a social point of view, variables such as the expression of affiliative bonding and of playful interactions among littermates, the quantity/quality of maternal care, or episodes of maternal or sibling deprivation during critical phases in development, seem to interfere as epigenetic factors with the rigidly ordered temporal sequences of events that occur during the ontogenesis of CNS. This leads to the onset of adaptive neurodevelopmental changes, which are observable within a continuum that encompasses both "normal" individual variability and potential behavioural disorganisation, which in turn will probably be related to profound alteration in the establishment of adult social competence. The present review summarises the more recent work in mice dealing with short-term, as well as long-term modifications, in naturally occurring species-typical social and non-social responses as a function of the early manipulation of social characteristics of the family unit (such as litter gender composition and time of weaning). These analyses were carried out on infant animals, i.e. during the ontogenetic stage of the establishment of social bonding, as well as on pre-pubertal and adult mice and on lactating adult females. Critical issues, such as the respective roles of sibling-sibling and dam-offspring interactions in the shaping of "sibling effects", are also addressed. Overall, these studies indicate that, within their natural range of variation, early patterns of social stimulation are powerful determinants of subsequent behaviour of developing altricial rodents, and confirm that early social life events warrant attention because they can strongly affect neurobehavioural development. Evidence of a relationship between social events occurring during early rearing (i.e. when dramatic transitions in neuroendocrine and neurochemical CNS systems occur) and individual behavioural variability in the infant and adult response to the effects of psychostimulants abused by humans is presented. A better understanding of the mechanisms that mediate such remarkable plasticity might have great psychobiological as well as clinical importance, especially when considering the issue of vulnerability to drug abuse.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Laviola
- Laboratorio di Fisiopatologia di Organo e di Sistema, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy
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59
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Abstract
I studied the relationship between the timing of birth relative to other births in the social group, and the rate of spatial integration into the herd in six cohorts of semi-free-ranging infant sable antelope at the National Zoological Park's Conservation and Research Center near Front Royal, Virginia. All calves spent the initial few days of life resting in seclusion ('hiding'), and interacted with mothers and other conspecifics only during activity bouts. With time, calves became increasingly likely to rest apart from the herd with other calves in crèches, and by 6 weeks of age, calves remained with the herd throughout all resting and activity bouts. The rate of spatial integration for individual calves depended upon the calf's birth date and the availability of peers of similar age (birth clustering). Only the first few calves born in each cohort were observed in crèches, and crèche groups synchronized their entry into the herd. First-born calves remained in crèches longer and began resting with the herd later in life than calves born later in the cohort. Last-born calves typically did not form crèches, but instead rested with the herd from an early age. Other infants may serve as social cover during the time that infants form crèches and when they first begin to accompany the herd. The observed individual differences in the rate of spatial integration may represent individual adjustments in response to the varying degrees of protection offered by the spatial environment. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- KV Thompson
- Department of Zoology, University of Maryland
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60
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Weller A, Dubson L. A CCK(A)-receptor antagonist administered to the neonate alters mother-infant interactions in the rat. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1998; 59:843-51. [PMID: 9586840 DOI: 10.1016/s0091-3057(97)00530-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The importance of the infant's cholecystokinin (CCK) system for eliciting optimal maternal care was examined in 6-9-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats. After administration of either vehicle, CCK-8 (1 or 8 microg/kg) or devazepide (1 mg/kg; a selective CCK(A) receptor antagonist), pups were either individually isolated (Experiment 1) or individually reunited with their dam (Experiment 2) and the rats' behavior was observed. When isolated, pups that received devazepide displayed significantly more head-lifting and wall-climbing attempts than vehicle-treated controls, suggesting that endogenous CCK dampens activity. Devazepide-treated rats were found more frequently in proximity with their mothers when reunited with them, and they emitted more ultrasonic vocalizations compared to vehicle controls. Pups treated with 1 microg/kg CCK received less body licking than vehicle controls. In addition, dams hovered and crouched over devazepide-treated pups more than over pups treated with 1 microg/kg CCK. The results suggest that endogenous CCK has a calming, quieting effect in the neonatal pup and that this, in turn, results in less infant-mother attractivity and reduced levels of maternal care.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Weller
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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61
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Abstract
Rats of most strains are attracted to salt in low concentrations, and this attraction is increased by pregnancy and lactation. Nonreproducing Fischer-344 (F344) rats are unusual in that they avoid saline at all concentrations, raising the question of whether lactation alters their sodium appetite. Therefore, lactating and cycling Long-Evans and F344 rats were compared in their relative consumption of water and several concentrations of saline. We found that Long-Evans rats preferred saline, but F344 rats preferred plain water. In comparison with cycling rats, lactating Long-Evans rats markedly increased saline intake whereas F344 rats exhibited only a modest increase. Lactating rats of both strains increased total fluid intake, but this increase was primarily from water in F344 rats and from saline in Long-Evans rats. It was concluded that the aversion to saline characteristic of nonreproducing adult F344 rats continues during lactation. Their aversion to sodium in pup urine may account for the low levels of maternal anogenital licking observed in the F344 strain.
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Affiliation(s)
- C L Moore
- Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston 02125, USA
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62
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Moore CL, Wong L, Daum MC, Leclair OU. Mother-infant interactions in two strains of rats: Implications for dissociating mechanism and function of a maternal pattern. Dev Psychobiol 1997. [DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199705)30:4<301::aid-dev4>3.0.co;2-s] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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63
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Laviola G. On mouse pups and their lactating dams: behavioral consequences of early exposure to oxazepam and interacting factors. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1996; 55:459-74. [PMID: 8981576 DOI: 10.1016/s0091-3057(96)00279-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral analysis in animal models appears to be a valuable and sensitive tool for detecting subtle alterations in CNS function, which can be produced by early exposure to small perturbations of sensory experience, hormonal milieu, or exposure to psychotropic agents devoid of major teratogenic potential. Concerning anxiolytics, the more recent work in mice, which is here summarized, was carried out by putting the emphasis on changes in naturally occurring species-typical social responses as a function of early exposure to benzodiazepines. For adult females, on the behavior expressed during the early postpartum period, whereas for infant subjects, on the ontogenetic stage of the establishment of social bonding. Critical issues such as the choice of fostering procedure and rearing conditions are also addressed. Evidences of relationships between changes in social milieu taking place during early rearing-i.e., when dramatic transitions in the neurochemical target system occur- and the adult behavioral response to challenges with BDZ agents are presented. These data strengthen the notion that the modes of reaction of adult animals to the joint influence of physiological and environmental (stimulus) variables are under the influence of events in early ontogenesis. Therefore, a better understanding of the mechanisms-as unveiled by an appropriate use of drug tools-that mediate such a plasticity might have considerable psychobiological and clinical-therapeutical relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Laviola
- Section of Behavioural Pathophysiology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy
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64
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Moore CL, Jordan L, Wong L. Early olfactory experience, novelty, and choice of sexual partner by male rats. Physiol Behav 1996; 60:1361-7. [PMID: 8916195 DOI: 10.1016/s0031-9384(96)00249-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
After rearing by citral-scented or unscented dams, adult male rats were given simultaneous choices of citral-scented or unscented female partners in approach, contact, and sexual behavior tests. There was no evidence that mate choice had been affected by the early rearing experience. In Experiment 1, both citral and control males approached citral-scented females in a T-apparatus at slightly above chance levels and exhibited no differences in copulatory behavior during successive pairings. In Experiment 2, normally reared males directed their first mount more rapidly to a citral female, but otherwise mated equally with the scented and unscented females. In Experiment 3, citral-reared males approached citral and unscented females equally, whereas controls approached citral females less often. With 2 females in the same arena (Exp. 3), the first mount was more rapid when the odor of the partner matched that of the dam, but no other measure of sexual behavior was affected by the partner's odor. Despite the importance of early olfactory experience for the development of social behavior, a preference for estrous-related odors is evidently not learned before mating experience. Under some circumstances, a novel odor added to familiar conspecific odors may attract naive males to potential partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- C L Moore
- Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston 02125, USA
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65
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Maternal Contributions to Mammalian Reproductive Development and the Divergence of Males and Females. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 1995. [DOI: 10.1016/s0065-3454(08)60392-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
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66
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Livia Terranova M, Laviola G. Individual differences in mouse behavioural development: effects of precocious weaning and ongomg sexual segregation. Anim Behav 1995. [DOI: 10.1016/0003-3472(95)80042-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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67
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Fairbanks LA, McGuire MT. Maternal protectiveness and response to the unfamiliar in vervet monkeys. Am J Primatol 1993; 30:119-129. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.1350300204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/1990] [Accepted: 12/28/1992] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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68
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Moore CL. The role of maternal stimulation in the development of sexual behavior and its neural basis. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1992; 662:160-77. [PMID: 1456637 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1992.tb22859.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Both sexual differentiation, which is a matter of individual development, and sexual dissimilation, which is a matter of individual differences, result from developmental processes that are open to input from the early maternal environment. There are reliable features in both the dam and the young that ensure that males receive more perineal stimulation from maternal licking than is necessary for survival and normal growth. This stimulation contributes toward the development of masculine sexual behavior and mechanisms in the central nervous system that control copulatory reflexes. Because of differences in signals that they produce, males receive more stimulation than females. This bias in early stimulation accounts for some of the dissimilarity between the sexes in nervous system morphology and behavior. The same processes that produce sex differences can also produce individual differences among males. These differences are likely to have significant functional consequences in rats, a species in which males have a high level of intrasexual reproductive competition. Future research will be directed toward testing this functional hypothesis and toward exploring the extent of stimulative effects on the development of the sexually dimorphic brain regions that function in sexual behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- C L Moore
- Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston 02125
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