Abstract
At 130 days of age, 31 female rats that had been subjected in infancy to handling, mother-separation, both, or neither, were injected with d-amphetamine (100 mg/kg, 50 mg/ml, i.p.). The subjects from handled, mother-present litters were the only group that showed increased latency to death. This finding indicated that the maternal behavior elicited by early handling, rather than early handling or maternal presence alone, resulted in reduced amphetamine toxicity in the offspring, tested in adulthood.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bell, R. W., Nitschke, W., Bell, N. J., Zachman, T. A.: Early experience, ultrasonic vocalizations, and maternal responsiveness in rats. Develop. Psychobiol. 7, 235–243 (1974)
Bell, R. W., Nitschke, W., Gorry, T. H., Zachman, T. A.: Infantile stimulation and ultrasonic signalling: A possible mediator of early handling phenomena. Develop. Psychobiol. 4, 181–191 (1971)
Denenberg, V. H.: Critical periods, stimulus input and emotional reactivity: A theory of infantile stimulation. Psychol. Rev. 71, 335–351 (1964)
Denenberg, V. H.: Stimulation in infancy, emotional reactivity and exploratory behavior. In: Neurophysiology and emotion, D. C. Glass, ed., pp. 161–190. New York: Rockefeller University Press 1967
Denenberg, V. H.: A consideration of the usefulness of the critical period hypothesis as applied to the stimulation of rodents in S. Levine, eds., pp. 142–167. Springfield, Ill.: Ch. C. Thomas 1968
Levine S.: The effects of infantile experience on adult behavior. In: Experimental foundations of clinical psychology, A. J. Bachrach, ed., pp. 139–169. New York: Basic Books 1962
Levine, S., Mullins, R.: Hormones in infancy. In: Early experience and behavior, G. Newton and S. Levine, eds., pp. 168–197. Springfield, Ill.: Ch. C. Thomas 1968
Littleton, J. M.: Dual mechanism of amphetamine toxicity in mice: Relationship to brain catecholamines. Acta pharmacol. (Kbh.) 34, 92–96 (1974)
Meier, G. W., Schutzman, L. H.: Mother-infant interactions and experimental manipulation: Confounding or misidentification? Develop. Psychobiol. 1, 141–145 (1968)
Russell, P. A.: Infantile stimulation in rodents: A consideration of possible mechanisms. Psychol. Bull. 75, 192–201 (1971)
Smotherman, W. P., Bell, R. W., Starzec, J., Elias, J., Zachman, T. A.: Maternal response to infant vocalizations and oldfactory cues in rats and mice. Behav. Biol. 12, 55–66 (1974)
Smotherman, W. P., Brown, C. P., Levine, S.: Maternal responsiveness following differential pup treatment and mother-pup interactions. Horm. Behav. (in press)
Thiessen, D. D.: Amphetamine toxicity, population density and behavior: A review. Psychol. Bull. 62, 401–410 (1964)
Thiessen, D. D., Lindzey, G., Lampee, R., Middleton, C.: Effects of aggregation and early handling on amphetamine toxicity in CBA/J inbred mice. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 61, 532–534 (1967)
Thoman, E. B., Levine, S.: Role of maternal disturbance and temperature change in early experience studies. Physiol. Behav. 4, 143–145 (1969)
Villescas, R., Bell, R. W., Wright, L., Kufner, M.: Effect of handling on maternal behavior following return of pups to the nest. Develop. Psychobiol. (in press)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schreiber, H.L., Bell, R.W., Kufner, M. et al. Maternal behavior: A determinant of amphetamine toxicity in rats. Psychopharmacology 52, 173–176 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00439105
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00439105