Ferré P, Núñez J F, García E, Tobeña A, Escorihuela R M, Fernández-Teruel A
Department of Pharmacology and Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1995 Jun-Jul;51(2-3):199-203. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(94)00419-j.
The present studies evaluated the short- and long-lasting effects of postnatal handling (administered during the first 21 days of life) on the emotional behavior of female Sprague-Dawley rats. The performance of postnatally handled (H) and control nonhandled (NH) animals was compared in two different situations: an emotionality rating (ER) test (when they were 40 days or 4 months old), and a hyponeophagia (neophobia) test of anxiety, at the age of 4 months. The results showed that postnatal handling induced both short-term and long-term reductions of spontaneous emotional reactivity in the ER test, although the effects on some measures disappeared in 4-month-old rats. Postnatal handling also induced enduring decreases of anxiety as measured by the hyponeophagia test. None of the observed effects were attributable to changes in basal locomotor activity. ER measures were significantly related to hyponeophagia, because animals showing the highest emotionality scores in the ER test (preferentially NH animals) were those that showed the highest eating latencies and spent less time eating in the neophobic situation (i.e., hyponeophagia test).
本研究评估了产后处理（在出生后的前21天进行）对雌性斯普拉格-道利大鼠情绪行为的短期和长期影响。比较了产后接受处理（H）和未接受处理的对照（NH）动物在两种不同情况下的表现：情绪评分（ER）测试（40日龄或4月龄时），以及4月龄时的焦虑状态下的摄食抑制（新物恐惧症）测试。结果表明，产后处理在ER测试中诱导了自发情绪反应性的短期和长期降低，尽管对某些指标的影响在4月龄大鼠中消失。产后处理还通过摄食抑制测试诱导了焦虑的持续降低。观察到的所有效应均与基础运动活动的变化无关。ER指标与摄食抑制显著相关，因为在ER测试中情绪评分最高的动物（主要是NH动物）是那些在新物恐惧情境（即摄食抑制测试）中摄食潜伏期最长且进食时间较短的动物。
