Akers Katherine G, Reeb Bethany C, Tang Akaysha C
Department of Psychology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Behav Brain Res. 2004 Dec 6;155(2):257-63. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2004.04.024.
In rats, early life stimulation can enhance learning and memory and induce parallel changes in brain asymmetry. Despite persistent interest in human brain asymmetry, relatively little is known in animal models about developmental stability of early-experience effects on asymmetry and how early-experience may affect males and females differently in asymmetry measures across developmental stages. We exposed male and female neonatal rats to a novel cage for 3min per day during the first 3 weeks of life and measured spontaneous turning behavior at juvenility (7 weeks of age) and adulthood (7 months of age). We found that (1) the effects of such neonatal novelty exposure on turning bias are developmentally stable, and (2) neonatal novelty exposure differentially modulates turning bias in males and females. We briefly discuss implications of these findings in terms of the role of brain asymmetry in modulating cognitive and emotional development.
在大鼠中，早期生活刺激可增强学习和记忆，并引起大脑不对称性的平行变化。尽管人们一直对人类大脑不对称性感兴趣，但在动物模型中，关于早期经验对不对称性影响的发育稳定性，以及早期经验在不同发育阶段如何对雄性和雌性的不对称性测量产生不同影响，我们所知甚少。我们在新生大鼠出生后的前三周，每天将其置于一个新笼子中3分钟，并测量其在幼年（7周龄）和成年（7月龄）时的自发转向行为。我们发现：（1）这种新生期新奇刺激对转向偏好的影响在发育过程中是稳定的；（2）新生期新奇刺激对雄性和雌性的转向偏好有不同的调节作用。我们简要讨论了这些发现对于大脑不对称性在调节认知和情感发展中所起作用的意义。
