Abstract
Twenty pregnant female rats were each given one injection of (1) 1.5cc/kg body weight of a 1:1000 solution of adrenalin chloride, (2) 3.0mg/kg body weight of a 0.9mg/l.0cc solution of d-amphetamine sulfate, or (3) 1.5cc/kg body weight of distilled water. Injections were administered intraperitoneally either between 6 and 9 days post-conception, during which time the fetal stomach and intestine are developing, or between 12 and 15 days post-conception. Following normal rearing, offspring were subjected to immobilization stress, with pre- and post-measures of emotionality, following which they were assayed for ulcers. The results indicate modified emotionality as a function of the prenatal treatments, and a significantly higher frequency of ulceration in those Ss whose mothers had been injected with adrenalin at the time of the fetal stomach development.
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2
Dosage levels of drugs were adapted from those used in similar investigations (Thompson & Goldenberg, 1962; Ross & Schnitzer, 1963) based upon a pilot study, which showed that adrenalin produces much more intense effects than d-amphetamine when equated in dosage.
3
For detailed information concerning the effects of immobilization stress on ulceration, see Sines (1959).
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Bell, R.W., Drucker, R.R. & Woodruff, A.B. The effects of prenatal injections of adrenalin chloride and d- amphetamine sulfate on subsequent emotionality and ulcer-proneness of offspring. Psychon Sci 2, 269–270 (1965). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03343444
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03343444