The aim of the present work was to evaluate the delayed effects of acute prenatal stress in white rats. Stress was imposed by forced swimming in cold water on days 7 or 14 of pregnancy. The results showed that this procedure leads to significant decreases in the birth weight of rat pups and slowing of their growth during the second month of life. Animals subjected to prenatal stress showed changes in investigative activity and anxiety, with increases in emotional tension, along with learning impairment at age 1–2 months. Thus, acute stress on days 7 or 14 of pregnancy induces long-term adverse changes in the behavior of the offspring of the stressed animals.
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Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 60, No. 6, pp. 730–739, November–December, 2010.
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Volodina, M.A., Sebentsova, E.A., Levitskaya, N.G. et al. Studies of the Delayed Effects of Acute Prenatal Stress Evoked by Forced Swimming. Neurosci Behav Physi 42, 362–369 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-012-9575-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-012-9575-1