Social play development in pre-weaning olfactory deprived or stimulated rats

The effect of neonatal unilateral restriction or increased olfactory stimulation upon the development of social play behavior in Wistar strain rats was investigated. Pups were unilaterally thermocauterized in one of the nares on postnatal day 3 (experiment 1), or exposed to amyl acetate from 3 to 19 days of age (experiment 2). Unilateral odor deprivation significantly increased the frequency of boxing, wrestling and pinning in rats of both sexes. However, amyl acetate exposure significantly decreased the frequency of wrestling and pinning in females with no effects in males. The alterations in the development of social play behavior are concurrent with gross physical olfactory bulb modifications that may reflect a significant interference with the integration and transmission of olfactory stimuli to central structures such as septal, entorhinal, cingulate and midline frontal cortices subserving social play behavior. Data suggest that early in life brain mechanisms underlying social play behavior are sensitive to manipulation of neonatal olfactory cues and may participate in the modulation of this behavior.