Jia Rui, Tai Fadao, An Shucheng, Zhang Xia, Broders Hugh
Institute of Brain and Behavioral Science, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China.
Behav Processes. 2009 Nov;82(3):271-8. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2009.07.006. Epub 2009 Jul 25.
This study examined whether neonatal paternal deprivation (PD: father was removed and pups were raised just by mother) or early deprivation (ED: pups were raised by both parents except separated from not only the dam but also the peers for three hours a day from PND 0 to 13) has long-term effects on anxiety and social behaviors of adult mandarin voles. Newborn mandarin voles of F2 generation were randomly assigned to one of three groups: bi-parental care (PC: pups were raised by both parents), PD and ED. The parental care behaviors of F1 generation were observed at the age of 0, 13 and 21 days (PND 0, 13, 21) of F2 generation of PC and PD groups. Moreover, each mandarin vole of F2 generation received an open field test and a social interaction test on PND 70 and PND 75, respectively. No significant differences of parental behavior were observed between mothers and fathers from PC families, showing typical parental behavior of socially monogamous rodents. In addition, no significant differences of maternal behaviors were found between mothers from PC and PD families, indicating no maternal compensation towards pups for the absence of the paternal care. In the open field test, mandarin voles from both PD and ED families displayed higher levels of anxiety and lower locomotor activity, relative to offspring of PC family. In the social interaction test, both PD and ED mandarin voles also showed lower levels of social behavior and higher levels of anxiety. Thus, both PD and ED significantly increase anxiety and reduce social behavior of adult mandarin voles, suggesting that variation in parental investment may lead to variation in anxiety and social behaviors in rodents with different mating systems.
本研究考察了新生期父本剥夺（PD：移除父亲，幼崽仅由母亲抚养）或早期剥夺（ED：幼崽由父母双方抚养，但从出生后第0天到第13天每天与母鼠和同伴分离3小时）是否会对成年中华姬鼠的焦虑和社交行为产生长期影响。将F2代新生中华姬鼠随机分为三组：双亲照料组（PC：幼崽由父母双方抚养）、父本剥夺组（PD）和早期剥夺组（ED）。在F2代PC组和PD组出生后第0、13和21天（PND 0、13、21）观察F1代的亲代照料行为。此外，F2代的每只中华姬鼠分别在PND 70和PND 75接受旷场试验和社交互动试验。PC家庭的母亲和父亲之间未观察到亲代行为的显著差异，显示出社会性一夫一妻制啮齿动物的典型亲代行为。此外，PC组和PD组的母亲之间未发现母性行为的显著差异，表明母鼠不会因父本照料缺失而对幼崽进行补偿。在旷场试验中，与PC家庭的后代相比，来自PD组和ED组的中华姬鼠表现出更高的焦虑水平和更低的运动活性。在社交互动试验中，PD组和ED组的中华姬鼠也表现出更低的社交行为水平和更高的焦虑水平。因此，PD和ED均显著增加成年中华姬鼠的焦虑并减少社交行为，表明亲代投资的变化可能导致具有不同交配系统的啮齿动物在焦虑和社交行为上产生差异。
