Prolactin in rats is attenuated by conspecific touch in a novel environment

Prolactin is released in response to physical and psychological stress, the latter of which involves an animal's interpretation of its environment as potentially dangerous. This interpretation might be altered by social buffering, as defined by the presence of a social partner. In support of this claim, I previously found that the presence of a conspecific during exposure to the open field caused lower levels of prolactin in juvenile rats than did exposure to the open field alone. Because testing with a conspecific allowed the animals to touch, physical contact may have been necessary for the reduction of prolactin. To test this hypothesis, juvenile male and female rats in the present study were exposed to the open field (1) alone, (2) with a conspecific separated by a Plexiglas partition, or (3) with a conspecific without a partition. Touch was necessary to reduce stress as measured by prolactin levels.