Maze Studies on Progeny of Underfed Mother Rats

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Abstract
Previous studies show that the underfeeding of mothers during gestation and lactation periods results in permanent behavioral abnormalities of offspring. In extending these investigations by the use of an elevated multiple T maze with a water reward, a significant increase in starting and running times and total errors for the experimental animals was found as compared to the control group. The total errors of the restricted mothers' offspring consistently exceeded those of the controls in all phases of the study, including extinction (water reward withheld) where the group continued to run the maze minus the reward for a significantly greater number of trials than the control group. The number of fecal boli per hour, a classic indicator of emotional behavior, was also significantly increased in the experimental animals which also showed less exploratory activity and some neuromotor abnormalities. As a whole our studies suggest that the fetus, by cumulative effects of maternal malnourishment, can be so affected as to sustain behavioral abnormalities of long duration.