The Role of Nutrition in the Physiological and Behavioral Effects of Early Maternal Separation on Infant Rats

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Two week old rat pups were separated from their mothers and fed milk through previously implanted gastric cannulas at 3 different constant infusion rates for 24 h. A 4th group remained unfed. Cardiac and respiratory rates fell 40% in the unfed group and were maintained by the higher infusion rates. A close overall relationship was found between weight change and changes in cardiac rate (r = 0.79) and respiratory rate (r = 0.54). In contrast, the behavior of these pups in an unfamiliar test area, although clearly different from normally mothered pups, was unrelated to the level of nutritional intake. The results demonstrate nutritional regulation of cardiac and respiratory systems and independence of behavior from nutritional intake during the day following separation. The concomitant physiological and behavioral responses to the experience of maternal separation appear to have independent underlying mechanisms.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: